NGE: Will to Live
by Striker-0
Summary: Shinji is called to T-3 by his estranged father at tend years old. Little does he know how much his future will change in a few years. AU. My take on how it should have been.
1. Boy Meets World

Hey, fellow Evangelion fans, just another fanfic I decided to write. I was going to do one regarding Rebuild but I won't do any Rebuild fics until I've seen the story's conclusion. This fic is geared towards melding the manga and anime together and having the characters stay on the same track instead of going OC. Basically, what the NGE should have been like. Anyway, I know there're fics with different time sequences and character introductions but in mine I decided to have Shinji come to Tokyo-3 at 10 years old. Warning: characters will not be as emo as Anno made them to be (I'm not that good).

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own any of the characters, settings, plot, etc. If I did this would be how it went…but I don't.

NGE: Another Take

Chapter 1: Boy Meets World

A young boy sat on the train staring intently at the object in his hands as if it would answer any question he asked of it. But this was not the case. The boy knew that no matter how much he gazed at the letter he would never get a direct answer to any of his thoughts. Shinji Ikari, only ten years-old, had never been one to get his hopes up ever since his early childhood. One could tell just from looking at him how bad his situation was. A young boy sitting alone on the half-empty train carrying only a small gym bag, likely housing his few belongings, and heading to a place he hardly even knew.

As a young boy, he had experienced many hardships that only a small portion of children even experience. The death of his mother had been a major blow to his life since the only person who ever showed unconditional love to him was gone forever. Added to that, his estranged father cast him aside in his time of need and left him in the care of one of his teachers, who treated as more of an obligation than family. That has happened years ago and only recently had he received the letter that would change his life – a letter from said father. The overall content wasn't much – just the normal "to" and "from" followed by one sentence telling him to go to Tokyo-3 to see his father. The sender wasn't even signed in his father's name but rather a company name…Nerv. It wasn't surprising since Gendo Ikari was a man of few words and blunt when it came to "trivial situations," so Shinji knew he didn't suddenly develop a heart and wish to get to know his long forgotten son. No, the boy knew there were ulterior motives for this, but with such a strange relationship it was hard to get any idea as to what motive it was. _I guess I'll see when I get there. Not like I can turn back now since I have no idea how far this train even goes._ Shinji put the letter away in his bag before leaning back and turning his head to look at the outside scenery. _Father…why would you call me here?_

It took about an hour but Shinji made it Tokyo-3 without anything disrupting him. As he exited the train he noticed small groups of people beyond the outer railing. Most looked like people waiting for welcome their relatives but there was one individual that stood out…and not in a good way.

A tall, muscular man was standing towards the back of the crowd holding up a large sign that said "Ikari Shinji" on it. Immediately Shinji knew this was going to be a very awkward first day in the new city. He could feel the eyes of all the onlookers as he slowly made his way towards the man in the black suit. As he got nearer to the man he could also pick up the whispers of people gossiping behind his back – some were along the lines of "rich kid" or "yakuza," but what caught his attention the most was "military." _I could probably overlook the "rich kid" comment… and the way this guy is dressed plus my dad's disposition even I wouldn't put it past him to be part of the yakuza…but military? Well, he does kinda look like one of those drill sergeants._ Ignoring the rest of the comments he eventually made it to the man, who looked even bigger up-close. The man lowered his head to look at the boy as if analyzing him.

"Shinji Ikari?"

"Uh…yes, sir." Shinji already felt like he was being given a data confirmation analysis by this cyborg. His gaze, obstructed by his sunglasses, could very well pass for an android that would turn on him with the slightest error.

"Come with me." He opened the passenger side of the car and gestured for the boy to get in, which Shinji reluctantly obeyed for fear of being stunned by a ray gun. Once he entered, the man closed the door and entered on the driver's side before starting the car and speeding off.

The ride was silent the whole way – partly due to the man's serious personality and Shinji's fear of the consequences if he talked. Eventually, the man drove up to large hangar where two caged gates opened up to let them through. After the car came to a stop, Shinji felt the ground beneath the start to shake and wondered if they were going to fall through. It wasn't until he saw a stream of light from the sky that he noticed that they were on an elevator and were miles above a large city, which contained a huge triangular building.

"Wow! I've never even seen anything like this! This is amazing!" Shinji felt like a kid that noticed his parents driving him to Disney World for the first time. He was so absorbed by the sight that he forgot his earlier fear of speaking to the cyborg sent to bring him to his dad.

"This is a Geofront. You could say like a city underground." Shinji just kept staring in amazement at the sights before him. "We're almost there, so you'd better sit tight." As they neared the end of the elevator, the agent prepared to shift into drive and they were already on their way to the triangular building.

"Excuse me…what's that building right there?" After hearing the agent talk for once the boy finally began opening up little by little, but hoping he didn't overstep his boundaries though.

"That's Nerv Headquarters right there. That's where we're headed, so let's make haste." It took only a few minutes to reach the main gate and when they got ready headed inside. Shinji made sure to stay close to his guide so that he didn't get lost – there were so many doors to go through and each place looked exactly alike, so it looked easy to get lost in. After taking another flight of stairs upwards they finally came to a long hallway where a dark door stood at the end. From Shinji's point of view it looked like a black vortex drawing him nearer with each step and he feared what was behind the door. Little did he know his instincts were right in more than one way.

The man stopped before the doors and slowly opened them but still made no movement to enter. Shinji stood directly behind him but still made an effort to look ahead and see what was inside the dark room. The inside appeared to be pitch black, so black that everything inside was hardly visible, except the light reflected in the glasses of the man behind the desk. The boy's eyes immediately recognized him and his childhood flashed back into his mind – images of a young boy crying as the man turn his back on the child and walks away, telling him to walk on his own two feet. It's enough to make Shinji regret ever coming in the first place, but part of him still wants to know if there's still hope. Hope that his father wants him after all.

"Permission to enter, Commander." The agent to the boy's side asked as he stood at attention before the silent individual. The young man felt more like being with the cyborg beside him than the shadowy figure inside. If he ever felt fear from the previous man it was nothing compared to the presence of his father.

"Enter." There was no demand or anger in his voice, but that's what scared to boy even more as he and his large companion walked towards his father's desk. The closer he got the more Shinji could feel his heart beat – so much that he thought it would jump out and hit the desk before he even got there. As the two reached the desk, Gendo Ikari stared at his son in the same manner the agent had when he first met the young boy.

"Hello, it's been a while hasn't it?" It was more of a statement than a question and the lack of emotion in his voice made Shinji regret giving a reply.

"Hello, Father." It was the only thing his brain would allow him to voice at the moment and he was grateful he hadn't fainted on the spot. Since when had he ever felt this intimidated by anyone?

"You're probably wondering why I asked you to come here, am I right?" Gendo received a mechanical nod and continued, "well, let's just leave that for a little later. As you are now you might not be able to comprehend how important the reason is."

_As I am now?_ Shinji's thoughts were interrupted by a tall older man standing next to the desk. _Was he here the whole time? Then again I barely had a chance to notice anything else under dad's gaze._

"Ikari…" The older man's mouth was turned into a slight frown, similar to a father's hearing his son make a rude comment. It wasn't a domineering comment but it let Shinji know that this person must have been pretty close to his father to be voicing his opinions openly. Even the muscle-man beside the boy didn't make any move to speak unless he was told to.

"I've already taken the liberty of finding you a suitable location to live. It's not substantial but it's more than enough to suit your needs." Gendo's eyes still held their position on the young lad and his mouth was still hidden by the folded hands resting in front of it.

"Father…does this mean…I'm going to be living alone? I'm only ten years old, I can't live on my—"

"There's no need to worry, I've already assigned agent Akai to tend to your needs. There will be no problems." Shinji followed his father's eyes as they shifted to the man standing beside him. ***Beep*Beep*** The intercom on his father's desk rang. His father pressed the button. "Go ahead."

"Commander, we're ready to begin." A feminine voice called over the speaker.

"Good. I'll be there shortly." Gendo rose from his seat and walked around the desk, followed by the older man. "We'll have to cut this short I'm afraid. There's something that demands my attention so for now I'll have Akai escort you to your new home." The next thing he knew his father had already reached the end of the hallway and arrived at the elevator. After that his face disappeared behind the elevator doors.

"Let us go now, Mr. Ikari." The tall man motioned to follow the directions of his father.

"Please, call me Shinji. Mr. Ikari sounds too much like his name." Shinji's hands tightened slightly at the thought of being called similarly to that man.

"Very well, Mr. Shinji. It is already late so we must get you home soon." As the elevator descended to the bottom floor, Shinji's mind was recalling all of the events that took place that day. _I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away._


	2. New Life

Wow, right off the bat I have a couple of favs for my fic (alliteration, lol). I hope to live up to your expectations. I've got some ideas planned out for the first few chapters but most of the content is free writing, so even I don't have a set outcome for each chapter (how it turns out is up to the imagination). Well, enjoy.

NGE: Will to Live

Chapter 2: New Life

As with the previous drive, the ride to Shinji's new apartment was quiet yet the tension lessened after leaving the presence of the boy's father. Shinji's mind was on the conversation he had with Gendo just a short while ago, if you could even call it a full conversation. The young boy hardly said a sentence or two before his father left to "tend to other matters." He didn't even want to begin thinking what kinds of stuff his dad was working on. _I never did get an answer. What am I supposed to be doing here?_ Shinji let out a sigh as he focused his attention to the road.

By now they were headed towards the inner part of the city where a large group of buildings were. Off to one distance, he could see one side of buildings that looked rundown and abandoned, while the remnants of construction were scattered across the area. _It looks like a ghost town or at least a ghost city. I can't imagine anyone living here._ But just as he made that comment he could have sworn he saw a small girl enter one of the rooms on the fourth floor. However, as he looked back towards the area he could only see an identical row of closed doors. _Must have been my imagination._

They were now in a more livable area of apartments and the bright lighting gave comfort to Shinji. He hoped he could live in this sort of area, but the visual price looked a little too high for someone in his situation.

"We've arrived." Akai said as he turned the car towards the parking lot of the one of the apartments Shinji had been eyeing.

"Eh…This is where I'll be staying?" The boy's eyes were wide as he looked at the older man.

"Yes, is there a problem? Does it not suit your tastes?" The boy's eyes got even wider at the question.

"No, no…I just meant I never thought I'd be living in an expensive place like this."

"This apartment complex was purchased by Nerv not long ago, so it should come as no surprise that you are living here. After all, your father is the head of Nerv." With that the large man opened door and headed to the trunk to remove the luggage, which wasn't much in Shinji's case. He followed Akai as they entered the lobby and took care of the room reservation, before ascending to the second floor. They walked a few feet when Akai stopped at one of the doors, which Shinji read to be 204.

It took Shinji a while to get used to the things present in the room, even though it wasn't excessively grand. Truth be told, Shinji had never been exposed to this kind of luxury as a kid which added to his amazement of the room. After getting his fill of the room and an explanation on how to use the appliances, even though he was well versed in household chores, from Akai, the agent gave Shinji a small remote device.

"Um, what's this?" The lad already began examining is in his hands – turning it over above his head.

"It acts as both a detection device and a panic button in case of emergency. If there comes a time where you're in trouble or need help, just press the button on the side and it'll allow me to find you." Shinji eyed the dark button in the middle of the gadget. "Keep this with you at all times and never let it out of your sight. Do you understand." Shinji nodded. "Very well. Then goodnight, Mr. Shinji." Shinji watched as the door closed. He stared at the door for a few seconds, finally feeling the loneliness. Slowly, he turned to the bed and began unpacking his belongings, wondering what he was going to do now.

Deciding to watch TV for a few minutes, he surfed through channels finding nothing particularly interesting after a while. He eventually turned it off and searched for another source of comfort. Immediately his eyes fell on the front pouch of his gym bag. Unzipping the pouch, he pulled out a small SDAT player and placed the earphones on. After a while of listening to some music he felt his eyes getting heavier by the second and decided to call it a night, but not without making sure the gadget was at his side.

*Outside*

"Report status of the subject." Yuuji Akai sat in the driver's seat of his car, which had been parked for the last twenty minutes after leaving the apartment. At the moment, he was one the phone with agents from Section-2, who were providing surveillance in his charge's room.

"Subject has retired for the night as of ten seconds ago. All clear." Hearing this, he started the car and moved it to a different parking spot. His expertise entailed letting people think he had left, when in fact he was watching things like a hawk.

"Good work. Keep an eye on him and report to me if anything happens. Understood?" Finding an adequate parking space, he moved in an parked the car and arranged himself to sleep, as comfortably as one could while in a car.

"Understood." With that the line ceased and he shut his phone. He forced his eyes closed, knowing sleep would come to him eventually, yet his instincts were always on full alert in case something tried to sneak past him.

*Inside one of Nerv's control rooms*

Gendo Ikari stood overlooking the mechanical giant head as its eyes darted back and forth with each second. Having been the head of Nerv since its creation he had never shown fear or surprise of seeing things like this. To him all of the tools at his disposal were capable of being replaced, yet there were a handful of individuals who were in his best interest to keep around. He turned to one of the women at the main controls – a blonde-haired, middle-aged woman who was one of said few necessary individuals.

"How are things progressing, Dr. Akagi?" The blonde woman sat up straight and faced her superior with a professional look.

"Very promising, Commander. Rei's skills have improved greatly since last week and I'm sure if we keep working with her she'll be even better by the next week." Gendo turned his head back to the bionic head, whose eyes were still moving around in various directions.

"Excellent. Let's keep up this pace. If things keep progressing the way they are we may not need to rely on our last resort after all." Folding his hands behind his back he turned towards a small intercom image on the computer screen. "You're doing very well, Rei. Just keep up this pace."

"Yes, Commander." A soft voice replied over the speaker, although the person behind the voice wasn't visible in the image. Gendo turned to leave.

"I'll leave things in your hands, Dr. Akagi." His figure then disappeared behind the closed airtight door. His older companion following close behind as they walked down the narrow hallway.

"Ikari, I've been meaning to ask you. Was that really an appropriate way to converse with the son you haven't seen in six years?" The older man asked, looking straight ahead.

"There's no need for concern, Fuyutsuki. Despite not seeing him all these years, I still know exactly how my son thinks." Gendo kept his focus ahead as well. "I'll admit bringing him to me this early was not in my original plans, but as things stand now it will be more beneficial than we thought." By now they had reached the elevator and entered as the doors opened, pressing the top floor button as they went in.

"But, Ikari, there's no guarantee that he'll do what you tell him to do. If I were in his position I would be contemplating going back home. Then again, the situation is different since I've been around you long enough to know how you are." Fuyutsuki chuckled a little at the last sentence. True to his word, he had been around the younger man as long as he could remember. In fact, they had not started out on good terms, something that allowed him to empathize with the man's son. If he had his way, he would advise Shinji to go back to the peaceful life he lived before coming to the city. The old man knew that things would only get worse for the boy as time went on; however, he was in no position to do this since the boy was to be part something of a much larger scale, and it pained him to think about it.

"Possibly, but the way that I have planned out things will make it difficult for him to run away since by then he will have already been in too deep." Reaching the main office, Gendo opened the doors and made his way towards his desk. "For now, let's concentrate on other matters. According to Nerv's branch in Germany, the Second Child is progressing as planned and Unit 02 is being given its final adjustments. It won't be long now. Added to that, in America construction of Units 03 and 04 are underway and, while pilot testing is still being conducted, I believe those two won't be much of a problem." Gendo sat in his signature posture – hands folded in front of his mouth and a cold stare fixated ahead.

"How is Seele feeling at the moment?"

"The old men? Well, you can be sure they're going to be breathing down our necks for the next few months. The fact that Unit 00 is still being modified and Unit 01 is still unusable are matters that don't have them concerned, but they still want to make sure everything goes off without any problems." Gendo couldn't help but smirk. "Those old fools have no patience when it comes to these matters. They don't realize that slow and steady wins the race."

"Can you blame them? You can imagine what it would be like once the enemy appears and we're not ready. I bet the old men would jump for joy at the thought of world annihilation before we even get a chance to fight back." Fuyutsuki smirked as well, picturing Seele's faces if such a thing occurred. "Do you plan on telling them that you've already come into possession of the Third Child already?"

"Of course not, it does not concern them since the boy still has no idea of what's taking place. The notion of world destruction is farthest from his mind at the moment. Of course, I'll gradually introduce his training to him and by the time he's ready to pilot it'll be too late for him to back out."

*Next Day*

Shinji sat at his desk taking notes as the teacher lectured the class on history. While Shinji was not a top-grade student he was very capable and living with his teacher had enabled him to catch up on his studies enough to excel in normal schooling. Some of the information given confused him though and he would have to ask the teacher on it later on. Things like Second Impact and how the Earth's population was cut in half after a large meteor struck it. As the last few minutes ticked by he got his supplies together prepared to go to lunch.

As the lunch bell rang, Shinji made his way towards the cafeteria and got in line. Normally, he would have brought his own lunch but since he was caught unprepared he had to make do with cafeteria food. His mind flashed to what happened early that morning.

_*Flashback*_

_Shinji was woken up by a constant knocking at his door. Drowsily, he made his way to the source of the knocking and called to the other side._

"_Yes, who is it?"_

"_Mr. Shinji, it's me Akai. I'm here wake you up so that you can prepare for school."_

"_Um…Did you say school?" Shinji felt like he was in a dream – the kind where he'd be told he had only five seconds to get ready and, in the end, got to class finding out he only had on his underwear._

"_Yes, your father has arranged for you to attend school while you're staying here. I will be driving you as well." Shinji unlocked the latch and allowed Akai to enter. By now the boy was beginning to panic._

"_How much time do I have to get ready? I don't even have a school uniform."_

"_It has already been taken care of." The large man produced two hangars that he had slung over his shoulder. "We've taken the liberty of ordering your size of course. As for the time, it is now 6 A.M. so you have plenty of time to prepare." All of this was happening so fast the poor boy felt like he was in a comedy manga, and he was the poor main character._

"_Okay, just let me take a shower." He grabbed the necessary clothing plus the uniform and headed for the shower. He had no time to enjoy the luxury of his new shower as his brain was now assaulted with the news that he'd already been enrolled in school without even being consulted yet. He had no problem with going to school, but he had a feeling it wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Quickly pushing his thoughts away he cleaned himself and got dressed._

_As he exited the bathroom fully clothed, he noticed Akai placing a bowl of miso soup, plate of bread, and cup of tea on the kitchen counter. Shinji got the hint a sat down to eat. The meal was well prepared despite being simple to the average person and Shinji noted that it didn't taste instant made at all, which meant Akai made it himself. As Shinji finished his meal he gave his complements to the chef._

"_Thank you for preparing the meal, Mr. Akai." Shinji smiled feeling somewhat touched that the man took the time to do this, even if it was part of his job._

"_It is not necessary to thank me, but I accept your thanks, Mr. Shinji. Now let's be off." Akai locked the door and led Shinji to the car, which was park outside the main doors. Both got in and the car raced off in the direction of Shinji's new middle school. It seemed well balanced, neither rich-looking nor public-like. Akai had already stated that all of the red tape had been taken care of ahead of time and all Shinji had to do was report to his first class. The large man already knew the schedule and informed his charge that he would pick him up at the designated time._

_The introductions and formalities were taken care of in his first class and the students appeared to welcome him as one of their own. He didn't make any friends right off the bat but he could tell a few people were eyeing him with curiosity._

_*End Flashback*_

That has all happened a few hours ago and now he felt the day had gone by rather well considering. As the line moved slowly a tall boy about his age came up to his side.

"Hey, kid, you think you could do me a favor and let me in ahead? Sorry to ask this but my day's been kinda rough and my lunch was ruined. I'm begging you, please." The boy bowed as he did his best begging. Shinji decided he wasn't in that much of a hurry to eat so what harm could it do to let one person in ahead of him.

"Sure, go ahead."

"You mean it? Thanks, man. I'm in your debt." He scooted in front of Shinji and smiled. "So what's your name, kid? I've never seen you around here before." Shinji was getting slightly embarrassed - he wasn't used to having conversations like this.

"Shinji…Shinji Ikari. And you are?" The boy struck a tough pose and pointed his thumb at his chest.

"Touji Suzuhara. Natural althlete in this school, but my teachers are always hounding me about my grades, heh." Maybe school wasn't going to be so bad after all if he kept meeting people like this.

"Nice to meet you, Touji. Yeah, I'm kinda new here. I just transferred in today." Shinji grinned.

"Well, since you've been such a pal and helped me out why not sit with me and my friend. We'll be sure to fill you in on what happens at the school."

"Sure thing, sounds good." As the two finally made their way to the cashier with their plates they paid for the food and Touji led the way to a table, where a nerdy-looking kid was messing with his camera.

"Yo, Kensuke, make room. We got a newbie here. I'd like to introduce Shinji Ikari, who just transferred in today." The boy looked up and smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Shinji. Names Kensuke Aida and you can be sure I'm the foremost on info around on things in and outside of the school." They sat down and placed their food in order.

"Kensuke here is a bit of a gossip fanatic, but he never lies. I just hope one of these days it doesn't come to bite him in the end though." Touji was busy chowing down on his lunch as he spoke.

"Well, I hope we all get along together." As Shinji looked around he caught a glimpse of someone sitting towards the far end of the cafeteria. A young girl with blue hair, who looked slightly familiar sitting by herself. There was something about her that caught his attention and he wondered what it was that felt like he was being drawn in.


	3. Inevitable Meeting

Hey, everyone. Hope everyone has enjoyed the last two chapters, but please review and let me know how I'm doing. Also, I want to know if anyone has had any problems accessing the second chapters. When I checked it the other day the chapter button wasn't up and only showed chapter 1, which is why I posted chapter 2 again. Anyway, hope you enjoy the rest of the story. Don't worry, I'm not going to take up ten chapters going through every detail before the fighting; this is just an intro of the characters in a different situation.

NGE: Will to Live

Chapter 3: Inevitable Meeting

"Hey, Shinji, what're you starin' at so intently?" Touji happened to look up from his plate in time to see his new friend staring straight at the silent girl in the back. Shinji's mind appeared to reboot as he heard the boy speak his name.

"Um, nothing, nothing at all. I was just thinking for a minute." Shinji was frantically trying waving his hands in front of his face, but his friends didn't seem to let the matter go. Touji had a smirk on his face and looked towards the bespectacled kid.

"Hey, Kensuke, what do ya think? Think he's got it?" Kensuke smirked.

"Yea, he's definitely got it." By now, Shinji was already looking all over his body, wondering if there was something on him he was supposed to be looking for.

"Huh? What do I have? Is it something on my shirt?" The two boys seemed to take pleasure in seeing their new friend squirm. It wasn't that they were trying to be mean, but they just couldn't resist taking advantage of his innocence.

"Shinji, it's not something that you can see so easily. It has more to do with…feelings and emotions." This left the brunette boy dumfounded as he stared at Kensuke. _Is this gossip talk or am I just missing something?_ "Looks like he doesn't get it." Kensuke pushed his glasses up with his middle finger and prepared to give a dramatic speech. "You see it's like this, Shinji. We have what we call the 'first impression' scenario that, once in a while, every boy eventually gets here in school. The source of this phenomenon is that young girl you were just eye-balling." He turned his eyes to the blue-haired girl and both Shinji and Touji followed his gaze.

"Her name's Rei Ayanami and she's been going to this school for a while now. Her grades are said to be in the top ten percent and her unique look always catches the attention of many boys, even some girls. But even though she's got all those good traits, not once has she ever spoken to any other student or teacher." Shinji turned to him.

"How come?"

"No one knows. It could be that she probably had some bad experiences with other people or it could be that she just doesn't like talking to others at all. The only times she's actually said a word was when she was ordered to do something by the teachers, but otherwise she completely ignored everyone else." Kensuke went back to fixing his camera. "It also kinda got her outcaste by other girls since they thought her reason for not talking was because she thought she was superior." The bespectacled boy began polishing the lens. "But the strangest thing of all is that on more than one occasion she's been leaving early, sometimes skipping half a day of classes. Apparently, the teachers and staff don't mind so no one knows if it has something to do with family or something else."

"In other words, before you start thinking about approaching her, just know that there's a high chance she won't say anything to you." Touji began to lean back in his chair with his hands behind his head. "But if you have a crush on her, then go for it." Again the taller boy smirked.

"I-I-It's not like that. I just suddenly got this feeling when I saw her." Shinji blushed slightly.

"Yea and Kensuke just told you it was normal."

"I don't mean it like that. It's just the feeling I got was similar to someone I'd rather not think about." Immediately a picture of Gendo formed in his mind, which he shook away before he had a headache.

"Who?" Now Touji and Kensuke were interested.

"My father." Both boys looked at each other then back Shinji.

"What about him? You guys don't get along or something."

"If only you guys knew. I feel like I should apologize to her a hundred times for even thinking that the two of them are even alike." It was true, he felt like a jerk for comparing someone he barely even knew with his jerk of a father. Compare to him, Rei Ayanami was most likely more of a saint that anything.

"Wow, I don't think I wanna know what happened to start that. Must've been pretty intense for you to dislike him that much. I mean, sure me and my old man fight sometimes but it's all pretty harmless in the end." Touji took a drink of his soda. "Anyways, let's change the subject. So what kinda hobbies you got?"

"Um…I'm not sure, I sometimes enjoy playing the cello when I have free time. I got into it when my teacher noticed I had a knack for it. Of course, I haven't been able to play one in a while since I don't have the money to buy one."

"Ah, then why don't you join the music club? They have all sorts of instruments that you can use and I'm sure since you don't want to see your dad at home you could use that the practice." Kensuke had already put his camera away and began putting his plates on his tray. All three boys got up and headed to the trash.

"Well, I hardly even see him at all since I moved here. You see I recently began living alone after my dad called me to Tokyo-3 just days ago." Both boys stared at Shinji.

"Did you say just you have your own place? As in you live by yourself with no rules…free to do what you want?" Touji was in awe at his friend's situation. If only he could have an opportunity to live on his own, but then again he knew his parents would be on his butt if anything happened.

"Well, I don't know about the rules, but I am watched sometimes by my guardian. I've only known him for a day but he seems to be fine."

"So you have a guardian taking care of you? That's strange. Usually parents would have their children move in with them, despite any bad relations. So what does your dad do to pay off your guardian?" Kensuke got more interested with each question and the more information the more questions formed.

"I don't know if I should be telling you this but my dad works at Nerv." Touji and Kensuke both stopped and looked at Shinji. "I knew that was a bad thing to say."

"Why? This just keeps getting better by the minute. Both of our dads work at Nerv too. Who'd have thunk it?" Touji and Kensuke smiled.

"Our dad's work at different sections though so we each have our own information on what goes on around the world. Which section does your dad work in?" Kensuke was back to his gossip intake mode.

"Well, you see…my dad…is actually the…Commander of Nerv." At this, Kensuke dropped the soda in his hand and just stood staring at Shinji for a full minute before speaking again.

"You're…you're joking right? The head of Nerv is…your dad? The guy who essentially runs the whole thing?" Shinji was suddenly becoming aware of the attention the freckled boy was creating and was regretting giving out that information. Then again, how was he to know this kid would freak out this much.

"Uh…Kensuke, you're making kinda a scene here." Touji wasn't as flabbergasted as his friend so he knew it was up to him to do damage control. They'd pick this up later.

"But, Touji, this is big news. We actually got to meet the son of the Commander of Nerv. This is like huge. It's like having a celebrity—" Touji covered his friend's mouth and smiled

"It's fine, everyone, false alarm. Just go back to what you were doing." Everyone was reluctant, but went on about their business, although it didn't stop the rumors that were soon to come. Touji took his hand off Kensuke's mouth and thumped him on the head.

"What's your deal?"

"What do you mean, Touji. I just wanted to spread the news around. This is big."

"Yea, but Shinji already said he's not really fond of his dad, so he's not really living the lime-light around here. In fact, he's worse than us; he lives alone and doesn't even have any other relatives to talk to. You're just blowing things outta proportion." Once Kensuke calmed down a bit, he began to see the reality of the situation. He just made Shinji the target of unwanted attention in school and it was his entire fault.

"Sorry, Shinji, I kinda went overboard. It's a bad habit I have when something unique hits my ears. Please, forgive me."

"It's fine. It was bound to get out eventually so I guess no harm done. I just hope I can keep people from asking me a lot of questions." Kensuke perked up at this.

"Oh, I can fix that. I happen to know the president of the school's newspaper club and I have some details he can put in that might draw their attention away…for a while I hope."

"Really, then—" Shinji was interrupted by a soft voice in front of him.

"Excuse me." Rei Ayanami walked past as Shinji let her through, glancing at him as she went by, and leaving all three boys in shock. Only a few seconds passed before they regained their composure.

"Um…didn't you guys say she didn't talk to people unless she was told to?" All Shinji got were nods. "So…what was that?"

"That was something outta the ordinary. Right, Kensuke?"

"Yea, normally she'd just walk around a person if she needed to get through. She's never really had any trouble getting around school since people tend to steer clear of her." Kensuke eyed the brown-haired boy. "I don't know, Shinji; you may just be prone to drawing in the unnatural."

"I don't think I needed to hear that." Shinji and the boys walked down the hallway before stopping at one of the classrooms.

"Well, I guess we'll see you around, Shinji. Until then how about we hang out sometime." Touji said as he opened the door.

"Hey, maybe we'll end up in the same class during the class-shuffle happens next week. See ya." Kensuke followed right after him. Afterwards, the yells of a young girl could be heard on the other end.

"Yea, that would be nice." He turned and headed to his own classroom and the rest of the day passed by quickly. At the end of the day, Shinji found himself walking next two his two friends as they exited the school.

"So, Shinji, you gonna walk home?" Touji looked a little rough since entering the classroom but otherwise sported no bruised, except maybe his ego. Kensuke, on the other hand, was fine.

"No, my guardian is picking me up today. But maybe we could meet up on the weekend. I don't know my way around here so you guys need to let me know what we can do here." By this time, a familiar black car drove up next to Shinji and Akai opened his door.

"Mr. Shinji, it is time." His dark glasses made it impossible to tell if he was looking just at Shinji or sizing up his two friends. After saying goodbye, Shinji was sped off towards the end of the street.

"Did you see the size of that guy, Touji."

"Eh, I could take him."

"I don't think basketball builds the muscles necessary to even lift that guy."

*Inside Nerv*

A young, blue-haired girl made her way down the hallway towards the large black double-doors. After stopping to knock, she received permission to come in and entered, slowly approaching the lone man at his desk.

"You wanted to see me, Commander Ikari." Gendo looked up from his papers.

"Rei, how are things progressing in the simulations?"

"No problems, sir. I am slowly excelling and I believe I will do better by the next week as Dr. Akagi has set up." Although so young, the girl was already used to conversing with this man and grew to have a similar demeanor as a result. Her face bore no emotion whatsoever.

"I see. And how are thing at school?"

"Everything is normal. My grades are stable and I have not been given any problems for my absences."

"Good." Gendo was about to go back to his papers, when Rei continued.

"Commander Ikari?"

"Yes?"

"Today, I happened to come across a boy in my grade who claimed to be your son." This caught his attention as he shifted back to her gaze.

"Where did you meet him?"

"I walked past him at the end of lunch while heading back to class. He was conversing with some classmates in the same year."

"Did he say anything else?" The young girl could see a slight disturbance in the man, although his demeanor hid it well.

"No. In fact, it seemed that one of his friends gave out the information unauthorized by him."

"I see. Yes, it is true he is my son, but it is nothing to worry about. All you need to focus on right now is preparing your synch ratio. Unit 00's completion is not far away and we need you to be ready for the activation test."

"Understood."

"That will be all. Get some rest, Rei."

"Yes, sir." With that, Rei turned to leave and began her walk back to her apartment. Along the way her mind became uncharacteristically assaulted by thoughts. _Commander Ikari's son._ Her mind flashed back to the moment she glanced at him while passing by. _I see no similarities between them, and yet there is something that ties them together._ Her mind then flashes to the conversation between the three boys. _"Yea, but Shinji already said he's not really fond of his dad, so he's not really living the lime-light around here. In fact, he's worse than us; he lives alone…"_ She made it up the flight of stairs and arrived in front of her door. _He is similar to me and yet…_. Gendo's words surrounded her thoughts before finally stepping through the door. _"…it is nothing to worry about."_


	4. Revelations

Everyone, hope you've enjoyed the story so far. I love the comments and they've inspired me to write even more. So far things have gone according to plan and I'm starting to plan out the plot further as I get more involved. Anyway, please enjoy this chapter.

NGE: Will to Live

Chapter 4: Revelations

Shinji closed the door after entering and set his bags on the kitchen counter. He still hadn't gotten used to living in a large apartment by himself but meeting Touji and Kensuke had brightened up his mood at the possibility of having them come over. He had hoped that Akai would at least provide some miniscule conversation, but the agent informed him that he had important business to take care of. Now there was nothing to do but sit around and finish up some homework.

*Gendo's Office*

Gendo sat at his desk flipping through documents as Fuyutsuki stood eyeing them from his viewpoint. Apparently, they were a mixture of budget files and construction schedules. Only those who worked at Nerv were allowed to know what was really going on at the moment. For now the world was in a state of stability, although some countries still had animosity towards each other; little did they know that they would eventually be forced to join with those enemies in order to combat an even greater threat. The major countries had already banded together and formed the different Nerv branches, yet Japan still had the advantage of being on the front lines. Gendo finished reading the final paper and closed the folder before staring ahead.

"The budget we've be allocated should be more than enough to begin the preparations for starting Unit 00. As for Unit 01, I'll start Shinji's training in two weeks – by then he should be fit." A knock came on the other side of the door. "Enter."

"Sir, present as requested." Akai made his way towards the desk and stood at attention. So far the agent had no idea why he had been called in but he assumed it was important due to taking him away from his charge. Section 2 would handle any situations but they weren't always reliable.

"Agent Akai, I'd like a report on the child's current status."

"Sir, all appears to be stable. At first, he seemed lost after arriving here on the first day, but it seems that thrusting him into his new academic life has given him something to focus his attention on." This caught Gendo's interest.

"How so?"

"While not mentally prepared for entering a new school, he was able to adjust to the situation quickly. According to the reconnaissance report from Section 2, his welcome was normal and he was able to make a couple of acquaintances as well. This seems to have aided his adjustment to his new life."

Gendo smirked. _Interesting. Things seem to be conveniently playing into my hands at the moment._ "Excellent. If all goes well in the next two weeks, then the boy will have no trouble adjusting to his new training regimen." He looked at the agent in front of him. "We have already scheduled his training to begin in two weeks. Until that time, he is free to do as he wishes, but make sure that his new acquaintances don't distract him from his priorities once he begins. Understood?"

"Understood, sir."

"Dismissed." Akai turned and exited to room, leaving the two other men alone.

"Do you think he'll be willing to go along with your plans once he sees the training he must endure? Not to nitpick, Ikari, but don't you think you're rushing things?" He turned to his young associate.

"Rei has already begun her training, so having him train now would be more beneficial to us. After all, we must take precautions in case one of the pilots becomes incapacitated."

"From what you're saying, it looks like your anticipating that something will happen to Rei. Is there something you're not telling me?" Fuyutsuki may have been easy-going with his friend, but he didn't like to be kept in the dark, especially in his position.

"The activation of Unit 00 will start in a few months. According to Dr. Akagi, there are no guarantees that everything will go smoothly. So in case there arise any problems, we need to make sure that another pilot is ready to step in until she recovers."

"Should we really be activating it so soon? It's a whole three years before the enemy even arrives." The older man could tell it wasn't his friend's idea to make changes to the scenario. Lately, he noticed that Gendo had been having more meetings with Seele, which meant the committee wouldn't be satisfied until they had word that the Evas were usable.

"I have the same feelings, but in order to silence the old men for a while we have to give them undeniable evidence. I had hoped that they would give us more time to prepare but it looks like they won't be satisfied until Unit 01 fulfills its role." Gendo focus his attention on the file Akai left on his desk before leaving. "For now, I'll pull some strings to make sure things stay on the track we want it." The next day, Shinji found himself coincidentally in the same class as his friends, but didn't forget to notice the blue-haired girl was there as well.

*Two Weeks Later*

Shinji had been nearly on cloud nine for the last two weeks since meeting his friends. All three had hung out on more than one occasion and he was finally starting to think his life was turning for the better. However, there was still the issue with his father, whom he had neither seen nor heard of since the day he first moved. The boy couldn't help but get an ominous feeling that something was up.

They had already come back from lunch when Shinji received a call to go to the front office. After saying goodbye to his friends, Shinji hurriedly made his way down the hall and went inside. As he entered, he noticed Akai standing near the desk and wondered what was happening.

"Excuse me," he went towards the front desk next to Akai, "I was told to go to the front office."

"Shinji Ikari, this gentleman here was just signing you out for the rest of the day." The receptionist gestured towards the large man.

"Mr. Shinji, let us be off now." The boy nodded and followed the man in front. After Shinji secure his safety belt they made their way out of the parking lot. Shinji waited a while before bringing up the subject of his release.

"Um…did something happen?" The agent stared straight ahead.

"I've been instructed to take you to Nerv by the Commander. The precise details are unknown for now but I was told that everything would be explained once you arrived." Shinji's eyes could see the large building only a few blocks away and began to grow nervous at the possibility of seeing his father.

*Inside Nerv*

Akai had led Shinji down another path after they had arrived. It didn't look any different from the other paths, but then again everything did look the same. The boy dreaded what would happen if he ever lost his way in this type of area. He could picture it now – Shinji on the automatic floor, as the gates opened and closed behind him, traveling endlessly until he became old and gray. He shook his head, not wanting to lose his concentration in case he really did get lost. Ironically, an audible grunt was heard behind him and the boy turned to see a tall woman with a nasty look on her face.

"Damn this place! Couldn't they at least make it easier to navigate around here? I mean, what good is it to have an operations director if you can't make it possible for her to be where she needs to be?" The boy turned his head back, hoping she didn't notice him and decide to take out her frustration on him. Unfortunately, Shinji didn't have that kind of luxury as he felt a hand on his shoulder. His heart began to race as he slowly turned his head to meet the eyes of the monster, but was instead welcome with a smile. "Hey, kid, what's someone like you doing in a place like this? Did you get lost?"

"Uh…no, not really…I was called here by my father for some reason." He nervously smiled back, hoping to stay on her good side.

"Oh, so your dad works here? Then, why didn't he come pick you up himself?"

"Well, he's kinda busy at the moment so for now I'm being guided by my guardian." Shinji gestured to Akai, who was silent the whole time.

The woman looked up and saw the tall man in the front. _Wow, he was so quiet I didn't even noticed him. He looks like one of those guys who wait around corners ready to kidnap women off the streets_. "Wow, so you've got a bodyguard." Akai turned to her.

"Captain Katsuragi." The man saluted before turning frontwards again.

"Oh, you're one of Commander Ikari's men aren't you?" She paused. "Wait a sec…," she looked at Shinji then began recalling their earlier conversation, "What's your name, kid?" She had a feeling this was going to call for a good drink later on.

"Shinji Ikari." He stared at her, wondering what she was thinking about.

"Ikari?" _Yep, I'm definitely going to need that drink after work._ "So you're the Commander's son…I didn't even know he had one…then again he doesn't really talk much." She stared back at the boy. "Well, Shinji, it looks like we're going to be seeing more of each other from now on. I'm Misato Katsuragi, pleased to meet you." She reached out her hand and Shinji extended his hand to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Katsuragi." Misato frowned a bit.

"Just Misato is fine. I'm not **that** old after all. I'm only 25." She did a V-sign with her right hand.

"Um, ok, Misato." _Why did she tell me her age? Oh well, she seems nice at least._ "Misato, where are you headed to right now?"

"Well, to tell you the truth I was supposed to meet with everyone at Training Area 1, but I kinda got lost along the way, heh." She blushed slightly and Shinji tried his best not to grin at her predicament. Too bad he had little self-control over his emotions.

"Hey, what's with that smirk, little man?" The young boy now found his cheeks being assaulted by Misato's iron grip. "You wouldn't happen to be making fun of me would you?"

"No, I wasn't making fun of you. Honest, I was just—" _She really does have a strong grip._

"We have arrived." Shinji was thankful for Akai's interruption since he was having trouble convincing Misato to let go.

After following the agent into a large gym room, Shinji observed his surroundings. It looked just like the ones gymnastic professionals used. Turning his head back, Shinji saw two figures at the other side of the gym. One was a blonde-haired woman, about the same age as Misato, wearing a lab coat and the other was a younger brunette.

"Misato, don't tell me." The blonde woman sighed with her face in her right hand.

"Sorry, Ritsuko, I got lost again." This earned Misato a glare from her friend. "Hey, it's not my fault every wing of this place looks the same. I mean…I'm here now, right?" The purple-haired woman put her hands in front of her defensively.

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Misato. Unlike most people, you've got no excuse to complain. You've worked here long enough." She turned her attention to the boy next to Misato. "Ah, so this must be Shinji Ikari. I'm Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, nice to meet you." Ritsuko offered Shinji a smile then gestured to her assistant. "And this here is my assistance Maya Ibuki." Maya smiled.

"Nice to meet you all." Shinji bowed quickly, but received a small tap on the back by Misato.

"What a nice boy, trying to act all gentlemanly." Shinji frowned.

"I'm not a little boy." This caused Misato to smirk further at the chance to tease her new friend.

"Oh, so you're saying you're a real man now. In that case, maybe I should scold you for any dirty thoughts you might have had when you were staring at me." Misato couldn't hold in her laughter as the boy blushed.

"I-I-It wasn't l-like that at all, Misato." Shinji was busy waving his hands around to clear up the confusion that he didn't notice Akai had disappeared.

"Relax, Shinji, I was only kidding. But you should have seen the look on your face." She giggled.

"I don't need to take this from someone who got lost at the place she works." He mumbled this softly, but Misato picked that time to use her super-human hearing.

"What was that, young man? Maybe I need to reprimand you after all." Again the boy's cheeks were under the fierce torment of the Katsuragi grip. It was thanks to Ritsuko, though, that the sitcom was halted before they lost too much time.

"As much as I'd like to see how this ends, I'm afraid we have work that needs to be done." She motioned for the two to follow her to the side of the room with the most practice mats. "Shinji, I know you've only recently moved here, but I need to explain the reason you were called here by your father." Shinji perked up at this. "You see Nerv exists as a military organization to the human eye, but in reality it is much more. Let me just say this…In the next few years, there will come an event that will shake the very fabric of humanity. Because of this, we have begun creating weapons that will enable us to have a fighting chance, but for that to work we need certain individuals in order to make sure that they can be used." She looked at Shinji. "You are one of those individuals, Shinji."

"What am I supposed to do?" Shinji was waiting for someone to pop out and say 'just kidding', but from the looks on the women's faces there was little chance of that happening.

"There's no need to get upset, Shinji. We have plenty of time to help you through this and we're here to make sure nothing happens to you." Ritsuko smile and Misato put her hand on his shoulder.

"Yea, I mean we're all in this together, right?" She grinned. "With me guiding you, you won't have any problems whatsoever." Her hand then suddenly came up and lightly pinched his cheek. "Unless you happen to make me mad that is."

"I get it Misato." He couldn't help but smile for some reason. "I don't get what's going on, but I'll give it my best."

"That's the spirit, Shinji. Live it up. Experience your youth to its fullest." Misato was getting pretty worked up now, so Ritsuko decided to hurry with the training before they got even more distracted.

*At Night*

Shinji lay on the mat exhausted from the day's workout. The three women stood on the sidelines as he finished up the last of his training for the day. He hadn't thought that his training would be this intense. It consisted of doing pushups, sit-ups, squats, and jogs around the whole room. While that would seem like nothing at first, for ten year old Shinji it got harder when they kept increasing the intensity. After he was finished his body felt like it weighted a ton.

"That was very good, Shinji. You did well for the first day." Ritsuko sat up and had the other women follow her.

"Th…Thanks, Ms. Ritsuko…but I'm so exhausted." Breathing heavily, he failed to notice Misato put a cold can of juice to his cheek. "AHH!" He sat up straight.

"Here you go, Shinji. Make sure you drink it all up and get your strength back, because you're going to be sore tomorrow." Misato smiled and Shinji couldn't tell if she was smiling at him or the picture of him being sore in the morning.

"Thanks, Misato." As Shinji put the can to his mouth he heard footsteps at the entrance of the gym and looked at the source of the noise. He nearly dropped his can at the sight of his father with Rei Ayanami at his side. He had no idea what was going on here, but he knew his mind might mentally collapse if he gave into his shock now.

Although fatigued, he stood up as best he could. He tried to avoid meeting the eyes of either his father or his blue-haired classmate, but he could still feel the piercing gaze of someone – little did he know Gendo wasn't the one gazing at him. His father was already asking Ritsuko for an assessment on Shinji's training.

Rei said nothing, but kept her gaze on the boy ten feet in front of her. She didn't know the reason but there was something about him that intrigued her. Normally, she would shy away from people and not give them a second thought, but finding out that the Commander had a son the same age as her piqued her curiosity. This didn't mean that she was going to start approaching him, since the Commander told her to keep at a distance, but she did want to understand why she was curious about this newcomer.

Shinji was trying his best to keep his focus away but found himself strangely drawn to the person in front of him. He felt relieved seeing that is was only Rei, but then he was assaulted by the questions forming in his mind. _What is Ayanami doing here? Why is she with my father? What kind of relationship do they have? Why does she keep staring at me? Why can't I look away?_ Rei made no sign that she was shifting her attention anywhere else, but Shinji was becoming self-conscious by the minute. He turned his head away, blushing – constant attention wasn't one of his strong points.

By now, Rei's stood still but noticed the boy blush slightly. She had never seen this kind of reaction before, except in school. But those situations varied between people who were nervous, relationships between teachers, and hormonal changes between other students. She would have to ask someone about this; maybe Dr. Akagi. The Commander didn't like to be bothered with trivial matters, so she knew it would only be a nuisance to him. Her thoughts were interrupted by Gendo's voice.

"Rei, it's time to go." Gendo headed towards the entrance.

"Yes, sir." Rei turned around and followed suit. But she was stopped by a voice behind her.

"Ayanami…" Rei turned around slightly. "It…It was good to see you today." The albino nodded slightly before exiting the room.

"Well, now that was interesting." Misato grinned next to Shinji, who knew there would be more teasing coming. "Is Shinji starting to have those kinds of feelings?"

"Misatoooo. Can you please not bring this up when I'm so tired?" Shinji was pleading, already feeling the fatigue of his body return.

"Sure thing, kid, but I heard from the Commander that Mr. Akai is out at the moment, so I guess it's up to me to take you home."

"Really, well I guess that'd be okay. But don't expect anything fancy, because I live alone."

"Same here. Don't worry, it won't be a bother at all." With that the two left, but not without Ritsuko informing him to come in again tomorrow. The ride was more eventful than Shinji hoped. A few minutes and they were at his apartment – the only drawback was the occasional life-flash before his eyes. Shinji unlocked the door and they entered in together.

"Wow, this is pretty cool for you to be living alone in a place like this. It's cozy yet formal." Misato headed to one of the room and closed the door, leaving Shinji stunned. After a few minutes of no noise or movement from the room, Shinji decided to knock on the door.

"Um, Ms. Misato?" Nothing. "What are you doing in there?" There was the sound of shuffling before the door slid open, revealing Misato in very…revealing outfit. She wore a small yellow shirt with short blue shorts, which could possibly pass for thongs. Shinji blushed straight away. "Ms. Misato, why are you wearing that?"

"Oh, I decided to stay the night since it's not right to leave a boy your age alone." She scooted past him. "And what's with the complaining all of a sudden? I thought you would like that I'm taking the time to provide some much needed company." Shinji was having mixed emotions. On one hand he was disturbed by her dress style, but then again it would be nice to have someone to talk to for the night. "Anyway, what do you have to drink in here?" Shinji had the feeling it was going to be a long night.


	5. Coming to Grips

Finally, I've been able to take care of some errands that I've been procrastinating on. Now with that taken care of I can start getting back into the groove. So I know there are some people possibly wondering when things are going to start picking up, but don't worry I've got some ideas on the way. This chapter should be the second to last pre-NGE chapter before the fighting starts. Anyway, Enjoy.

NGE: Will to Live

Chapter 5: Coming to Grips

Shinji was awoken by the beeping of his alarm clock. Groaning, he felt around for the turn-off button but decided to get up since he couldn't find it with his head under the covers. Getting up, he made his way to the shower and relaxed under the warm sensation. While washing, he began to recall the crazy events of the previous night.

_Shinji flinched when he heard Misato scream after she opened the refrigerator. Confused, he slowly approached the older woman._

"_Um, Ms. Misato…is something wrong?" The older woman sagged her shoulders and turned to face the boy with small tears in her eyes._

"_Wha…What is with that?" Her fingers pointed to the contents in the refrigerator, but to the boy there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary._

"_Huh?...I don't see anything wrong." He analyzed all of the items in its storage and came upon the cooking ingredients. He looked back at the woman. "Do you dislike any of the ingredients?"_

"_No…it's just," Misato closed her eyes and looked like she was going to give a passionate declaration, "why isn't there at least one can of beer in there?" Shinji fell on the floor._

"_You mean to tell me that's what you were so upset about?" Shinji was beginning to have mixed emotions about this woman. "Ms. Misato, I'm only ten years old. Why would I even have beer in my fridge?" Honestly, was this woman really supposed to be one of the people supervising his training?_

"_Oh please, working under the Commander is bad enough but I can't imagine the stress of living __with__ him. That should already be considered a cause of alcohol abuse." Shinji turned his head._

"_First of all, I haven't lived with him in over six years, and I don't plan on doing so any time soon. Secondly, I don't think this is the kind of thing to be discussing with someone my age." He looked up to find Misato directly in his face._

"_Less talking and more moving. We're going to a convenient store right now." This entailed an eventful walk to the nearest convenient store – except Misato was doing the walking while Shinji felt himself being reluctantly dragged the whole way. When they arrived, the poor boy was forced to wait while the deranged woman hunted for a decent set of alcohol. After paying, she once again dragged Shinji back to the apartment. Both took seats at the kitchen table and Shinji observed his companion tear off a piece of the six-pack and start guzzling it down. A few seconds passed._

"_YEEEAAAAHHHHH!" The yell from the woman almost made Shinji have a heart attack and he put a hand to his chest to make sure he wasn't dead. "Yes! Now that's what I needed." Misato leaned back in her chair and looked across the table. "So what were you saying about your dad?" Shinji had no idea what to say about Misato now._

"_Ms. Misato, do we really have to talk about this?" He was getting tired and didn't feel like discussing such a touchy subject right away._

"_Yes, we do. At times like this, it's good to get these things off your chest so that you don't end up stressing yourself out." Taking another swig, she smiled at the boy. "And who better to talk about it than me? After all, I also had problems with my dad."_

"_You did, Misato?" Shinji became intrigued._

"_Yea. My problem with my dad was that he was always putting his work before his family and, as a result, we rarely even got to spend time with him. My mother was always upset about this and I grew to hate him for it." Misato looked at the ceiling. "But he ended up saving me at one point in my life and because of that I don't really know how I feel anymore." She straightened her chair out. "So what's your story?" Shinji looked down._

"_Well, after my mother died years ago, he tossed me out of his life and told me to start walking on my own two feet. At the time, I didn't know what to think. My mother was gone and I had no one to turn to but him, and he wanted nothing to do with me. After that, I was in the care of one of my teachers and lived that way until he sent for me two weeks ago." Misato eyed him. "I still don't know why I even bothered to come here in the first place. I guess I wanted an answer for why he cast me away and I wanted to know if he even cared about me." Misato took another swig._

"_Wow, that is rough…and to go through that at such a young age. But you know what, Shinji?" Shinji faced Misato. "You don't have to let your father dictate your life forever. You're here now, and that's what counts. You've made that effort to seek the answers to your life, but you also have to learn to accept the reality of everything." She leaned in towards the middle of the table. "You may be able to get the answers to your questions, but then again you may not. You may also get the answers you want, but there's the possibility that you may not want to hear the answers." She reached across and took his hand. "Shinji, you need to stop letting yourself feel like you're the one who messed up. You did nothing wrong."_

"_Ms. Misato…" Shinji was beginning to tear-up._

"_A parent is supposed to be there for their child. It's the duty of the parent to be there to guide them when they are struggling and to comfort them when they don't know how to handle things. Shinji, you're only ten years old. It's time for you to start living your life and not let others dictate it for you." Shinji was already crying at this point. All the images of his past flashed back at him as he remembered all the times he had struggled and Gendo wasn't there. He remembered looking at his father's retreating form and thinking it was his fault that he left. Now, he was reliving those images but with a new sense of self. It wasn't his fault that he had to suffer. The revelation caused him to break down and he realized that Misato was already next to him and ready to comfort him. "It's alright, Shinji. I'm here for you." With that he buried himself in her arms and cried until he fell asleep._

Shutting the water off, Shinji finished drying and proceeded to put his clothes on. Misato was right. He did feel better after voicing his feelings and he had a newfound respect for the woman. _I need to thank her before I leave._ With that in mind, Shinji headed to the occupied bedroom and knocked on the door. After a few minutes with no answer, he opened to door slightly since he didn't want to wake her if she was sleeping. Taking a peek inside, he was met with the sight of a disheveled bed and covers along with a weirdly positioned Misato. _Maybe I'd better leave a note instead._

Scribbling a moderate message on a piece of paper, he placed some tape on the top and stuck it on the inside of the room before taking off. Since Akai seemed to still be away, Shinji decided to take the train to school. Luckily it wasn't crowded and he was able to get a seat close to the door. Minutes went by and then the train stopped at another station and letting other passengers on. As the small crowd passed through the doors, Shinji spotted a familiar face enter and take a seat.

He was still unsure about how to approach the situation, but he figured now was as good a time as any. Slowly, he made his way to the opposite side of the car and sat one seat over from the girl. She gave no acknowledgement of his presence and he felt a sort of normalcy in her attitude. He studied her for a while.

She seemed to be carefully reading the book in her hands and he grew curious about its content. From his view point he could barely make out the kanji on the page and realized it was a book on theory and philosophy. He wondered what drew her to that topic, but decided not to question it right away. Still engrossed looking at the book, he didn't notice her attention shift.

"Why are you staring at me?" Startled, Shinji sat up straight and saw Rei looking straight at him with an indifferent face. His brain was in overdrive trying to think of the best thing to say at the moment.

"Uh, well…I was just wondering what you were reading, but I kinda saw what it was from my view. It looked really complicated." He was getting nervous under her stare and he tried a different approach. "So, Ayanami…what were you doing at Nerv last night? Does your family work there?" She turned to face the window on the opposite side.

"No. But the Commander does." This confused him.

"How long have you known my father?" A short pause again.

"All my life." Now, Shinji was trying to make sense out of all of this. _What did she mean all of her life? How long ago did dad meet her?_

"What do you mean all of your life?"

"The Commander is all I have known since I can remember. His presence has always been a part of my life." Shinji was still having trouble grasping this information combined with what had happened yesterday. He ceased his thinking when the train made it to their stop and followed her as they headed towards school.

"Um, Ayanami?" She was still facing forward, but he continued talking. "I don't really understand any of this? Ever since I've come here I've been having more questions than answers." He looked at the blue-haired girl. "We've barely met, so I don't expect you to say yes. But I want to know if I could talk with you." Rei still stared ahead.

"Why?"

"I just want to know a few things about my father. There are things that I'm still trying to understand, but at the moment I don't have anything to go on." He looked ahead. "Like I said, Ayanami, you don't have to do it if you don't want to. But let me know when you make a decision." Shinji walked ahead as he spotted Touji and Kensuke, leaving Rei to ponder his request.

*Lunch Time*

Shinji was eager to sit down after his conversation with Rei. Despite what he had felt when he began the talk, it took a lot more courage than he thought to approach her. Luckily, or rather strangely, she had managed a reply to each comment he made. At the moment, he wondered how much of the gossip about Rei was true. While she did seem antisocial and didn't talk to people, maybe people just didn't approach her and just labeled her at first glance. He trusted his friends and knew that they probably believed most of the things people said about her without confronting her themselves.

For now, he took his place at one side of the lunch table and Kensuke and Touji took their places. Touji, as usual, was going through his lunch like a vaccum. Apparently, he was stressed out by the verbal dictatorship of their class representative, Hikari Horaki. To Shinji, Hikari seemed like a nice girl who always made him feel welcome, but gave the other two, namely Touji, warning glances all the time.

He remembered the first time the girl saw him conversing with his friends. She quickly made her way over there and called the two boys out, asking if they were trying to contaminate another student. When Shinji spoke to her about their new friendship after class, she seemed to have a shocked look on her face. She then asked if he was really okay with having them as friends, to which he questioned what was wrong about them.

"_There's nothing terribly wrong with them, but it's their attitudes. They're not bad, but those two have a habit of slacking off a lot and causing a disturbance outside of class. About fifty percent of my time at school is spent keeping those two in line and it's become a hassle, especially with Touji." She smiled at Shinji. "You're a good student, Ikari, and I'd hate for you to get in trouble for the things those two do. Like I said they're not bad, in fact they are nice people to have around, but I just wish that they would buckle down and take things seriously for once."_

By now, Shinji was considered part of the trio, but Hikari often let him off the hook since he wasn't involved with their silly pranks. Touji, however, was at the center of her wrath and Kensuke a close second. Shinji wondered if maybe he should talk to his friends about trying to get on the good side instead of having her one their heels. But now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. Mr. Ritsuko had told him to come to Nerv at the same time as yesterday, so he knew he had to get signed out before lunch ended. From what he was told, the teachers were already informed about his situation and didn't need any further explanation for his absence, although it was still up to him to get his assignments from his teachers and friends.

As the lunch bell was about to ring, Shinji excused himself from the table and headed towards the office to sign out. His friends had already questioned his frequent number of absences, but he told them that he wasn't allowed to give them the details yet, but that he would tell them when the month was over. Noticing the double doors, he entered and was greeted by Misato, who was sporting her traditional uniform.

"Hey, Shinji, you ready to go?" She smiled.

"Yea." He returned the smile and followed her to the car.

"Okay, be sure to buckle-up now. We don't want you nearly flying out the window like last time, do we?" He recalled the near-death experience from the last car ride, so he took her advice and made sure he was strapped in well before she sped off. The training process would continue for a month so until then he tried his best to meet their expectations. After all, he didn't think he'd be able to live with himself if he let humanity down; that didn't stop his fear of the unknown though.

*One Month Later*

Gendo stood at the control center overlooking the giant behemoth in the large building. This day was what he had been both awaiting and dreading at the same time. He knew that doing this procedure ahead of schedule was looking for trouble, but he knew that his superiors wouldn't leave him alone if he didn't provide evidence that his method was correct.

"We are ready to begin the test, Commander." Ritsuko stood beside him and waited for the okay.

"Very well, begin the test of Unit-00 at once." Ritsuko gave out her order as the techs went to work on their individual tasks.

"Pilot life signs are all normal."

"No problems detected. Adjusting synch parameters now." Machinery could be heard inside the large room where the unit stood. A few seconds went by as technicians worked to make sure that everything was going okay. There was only one thing left.

"Contact borderline approaching. 0.5…0.4…0.3…0.2…" The sound of the alert could be heard as figures began to become unstable. "The pulses are flowing backwards." At that moment, a large crash was heard and everyone turned their eyes to see Unit-00 painfully marching forward and clutching its head. Gendo gave the order to cut off the power supply, but even after that the monster switched to its back-up power. It continued to move forward and finally managed to make it to the control center, where Gendo stood. Then, it suddenly began punching on the frames, easily breaking parts of the glass.

"Unit still has 2 minutes of emergency power left." Ritsuko grew worried and told Gendo to stay back as the unit continued its onslaught. But after a few seconds another emergency took place. "Emergency plug ejection has been engaged." There was a small explosion as a small capsule shot up from the back of the unit and headed to the opposite end of the wall."

"REI!" Gendo watched as his pilot's craft continued to stay in the air before coming down seconds later. By now, the Unit had ceased all of its actions and stood pushed up against the wall. Ritsuko watched as Gendo made his way to the plug capsule and tried to open the hatch on the side. He flinched away slightly by the heat on the handles, but bared it long enough to turn it open. Stepping inside, he inspected the girl's injuries.

"Rei, are you alright?" He received a pained nod, but it sufficed. "That's good."

*Nerv Training Area A*

"That was great, Shinji. You're getting better every day." Misato clapped as Shinji finished his exercises and headed to receive his towel from her.

"Thanks, Misato. I think I'm finally starting to get used to this." He drank some of his workout drink and dried himself off, trying to relax his body. At that moment, thought, Misato answered her phone.

"Yes, Katsuragi speaking." Shinji could see her face change into worry. "What? When?" She made her way to her purse and tried to find her keys after closing the phone.

"Misato, what's wrong?" He was worried about what she had heard.

"Something's happened to Rei. I'm on my way to the medical ward to see her." She turned was about to turn around, but decided against it.

"What? Is she alright?" Shinji started panicking at the thought of serious harm coming to the girl. He may have only known her for a month and not spoken to her that much, but he still considered her a friend.

"I don't know, but that's what I'm going to find out." Misato was deciding what to do at the moment. She didn't know if it would be a good idea to bring Shinji with her since he was still in physical training, but she couldn't just leave him here. She knew the boy would be exposed to things like this later in his training, but wondered if seeing the result of that training would inhibit him later on. Not being able to come to a decision, she went with her first thought. "Come with me." Shinji nodded and followed her as they made their way to the medical ward.

*Medical Ward*

Shinji sat outside the ward looking down at the floor. Misato had been allowed in the second she got there, but he had to stay outside until everything was stable. He had no idea what kind of shape Rei was in or even how she had gotten injured. There was so much work being done all over the building that he had no idea what the overall goal was. It was about an hour and a half before the lights above the ward sign stopped flashing. Shinji stared at the door and saw a group of doctors and nurses wheeling Rei out in large gurney. Her eyes were only slightly open and she had a number of IVs strapped to her arms.

Rei's eyes shut closed as she felt her consciousness slip away. The last thing she remembered seeing was the worried face of the boy who had been on her mind recently.


	6. Preparations

Okay, this will officially be the last pre-NGE chapter before everything starts anew. I've got my ideas in check for now and I'm going to be wrapping things up here. Let me know any good ideas that could possibly be put in the future. I can't guarantee I'll use them, but you never know. I like feedback, it helps me see any options that I haven't considered yet and helps compare ideas that could work. Again, enjoy.

NGE: Will to Live

Chapter 6: Preparations

Rei woke up to the sound of mumbling coming from the room behind hers. Looking around, she noticed that she was in a nearby hospital and that the Commander was standing next to her bed. At that moment, she recalled him coming to rescue her and how he opened the super-heated hatch bare-handed just to get her out. She felt a slight elation come over her as she looked up at him. During her entire time under his care, she had always thought of herself as dispensable but seeing him rescue her gave her an indescribable feeling.

"Rei, how are you feeling?" Gendo's voice had reverted back to normal and she had a strange feeling in her belly at his tone. The warmth that she had felt earlier was lessening a little, but she gave it no thought.

"At the moment, there is pain in my arm and my right eye appears to be in aching as well. Other than that, I do not feel anything else is wrong." She maintained her professional attitude while talking to him.

"I see. The doctors say that your right eye has taken some damage, but with time it should heal. I have also been informed that your arm is broken in two places, which would take longer to heal, but it is necessary." He looked at her through his glasses. "You are to rest until you are fully healed. I will have Section Two aid you until then." He turned and headed towards the door and left the room.

Rei couldn't explain the feelings that she was having. On one side, she felt as though she had been given a sense of self-importance, but after their conversation it seemed as though that feeling was slowly dissipating. She laid her head back down and stared at the ceiling. _A pale ceiling…easily overlooked until someone is forced to notice it._ Her thoughts traveled back to the Commander's son. _I have a choice? Why would he give me a choice?_ A few seconds later, her eyes became heavy and she drifted off to sleep.

*Next Day*

Shinji had barely been able to get any sleep since seeing the state Rei was in yesterday. The whole night he had wondered what had happened to her and how she had gotten injured in the first place. Misato and Ritsuko wouldn't tell him anything at the moment, so he was left in the dark as to her condition. Reaching school, he met up with Touji and Kensuke and headed inside.

"Hey, Shinji, did you hear?" Kensuke came up to his desk after they had entered their home room. "Ayanami's, going to be absent for the next few weeks."

"Um...really?" He tried to sound surprised at the news in order to not draw any attention.

"Yea, my friend heard from the teachers' lounge that she had an accident of some sort." Shinji was amazed by the gossip circuit; the news had already begun traveling through the school. "You wouldn't happen to know anything would you?" He flinched.

"No, why would I?" Kensuke eyed him suspiciously.

"Oh, come on. We all know that you two have been leaving early for a whole month." The bespectacled boy grinned. "At first we thought that you two were seeing each other in secret, but since Ayanami's been doing this since before you arrived, that can't be it. Hey, this has something to do with Nerv, right?"

"How do you figure that?"

"Well, I've been able to hack into my dad's data files and managed to find some interesting information. It appears that Nerv's been working on something in secret…my guess is that it has something to do with weapons, but I didn't have enough time to search that long." Shinji was aware of some of the information, but as to what these weapons were he had no idea.

"And what does that have to do with Ayanami?" He hoped his friend didn't do anything stupid. Even he knew that getting involved with top-secret military data could get one into a lot of trouble; even a lot of movies referenced this.

"I don't know for sure, but it appears that Nerv is secretly training certain individuals in order to use these machines. Why exactly is still a mystery." Shinji could see the curiosity inside Kensuke's eyes, which didn't bode well for him.

"Kensuke, maybe you shouldn't dig too deep into stuff like that. You could get into a lot of trouble." Kensuke smiled.

"Oh, don't worry, Shinji, I'm too smart to get caught." Just as he said that, a dark aura appeared behind him.

"Aida, quit bothering Ikari and get back to your seat. Class is starting." Hikari looked down on the boy as he crawled back to his seat, while Touji snickered from his seat.

Everyone did the usual greetings for the teacher and sat back down, and then the teacher read the attendance. After marking the absentees, he proceeded to hand out the class duties and present the announcements. Shinji had gotten used to the daily practices of the school so he didn't think to listen as much when it came to homeroom. After class was over, the teacher headed over to his first period class.

"Ikari?" Hikari came over to Shinji's desk, snapping him out of his daydream.

"Huh? What?"

"Did you hear the teacher's announcement?" Shinji knew a day like this was coming. The one day he decided to not listen to the announcements, he would get in trouble for it.

"Um, no, sorry." He blushed slightly and Hikari sighed.

"Honestly, you're getting to be just like those two. The teacher said that Ayanami won't be able to attend class for a few weeks, so it's up to someone to give her the assignments and school bulletins."

"Oh, so who's going to do it?"

"The teacher said that it would have to be someone who knew her personally, but since there are only a few people to contact he had to consult the front office. Apparently, your name is currently on her contact list, so you've been chosen to do it."

"What? When did that happen?" Shinji felt a number of things. He had only known Rei for a short amount of time so he couldn't see why he was now listed as one of her contacts. Also, he had no idea who had made such a mistake, but he guessed he would have to talk to Misato about it later.

"I don't know, but I guess the school board has a reason for doing that. Anyway, just be sure to deliver the assignments to her once school is over, okay?"

"Sure, I'll get right on it." He could do nothing but grin and bear it until he could resolve the issue.

"Good." Hikari smiled and went to her seat.

The school day passed by at the usual pace, and at the end of the day Shinji found himself going to the front office to pick up Rei's school work. He was going to ask if there was any information on where he was to deliver it since he didn't know where the hospital was. But after receiving the load, he found a noted attached that had both the hospital and room number. Stuffing the books in his backpack, he headed towards the train.

*Hospital*

Shinji had made it to his destination, but began to worry about the conversation he might have with her. While she had proven to be more of a talker when he spoke to her, he wasn't quite sure it would go the same route this time. He managed to locate the room without much trouble and knocked before letting himself in. Poking his head inside, he saw his classmate sleeping soundly and toyed with the idea of leaving, but resolved to at least turn in the assignments. He quietly closed the door and placed her work on the side table, then began writing a note in case she woke up later. He shuddered slightly as a voice interrupted him.

"What are you doing?" He turned to see Rei's head facing his direction, although he body was still lying down. Calming his beating heart, he replied.

"I was told that I would be in charge of making sure you got your assignments. But when I got here you were sleeping, so I thought about just leaving a note instead of disturbing you." Rei continued to stare at him.

"I was not aware of this." Shinji could relate. _Tell me about it._

"To be honest, I wasn't told about it until today. I think it might have been a misunderstanding by someone."

"I see." She turned her head to face the ceiling. "If it is your responsibility, then I trust there was good reason you were chosen." She eyed her right arm. "Although, I do not think I will be able to perform as well in my state." Shinji observed her injuries.

"Ayanami, how did you get hurt?" Rei was silent for a while.

"I'm not at liberty to give that information." Now this really confused him. What was the big secret everyone was keeping from him?

"Does…does it have something to do with my father's work?" Rei turned her eyes back to him.

"Don't you have faith in the Commander's work?" Shinji was shocked.

"No, not really. For one, I have no idea what my father has been working on." He stared at the ground. "Not only that, but we don't exactly have that close of a relationship."

"You are the Commander's own son and yet you don't trust him." Shinji brought his eyes back to her. "Despite what may happen, I will believe in the Commander's work because there is nothing else for me." Shinji was silent for a while.

"Ayanami, you shouldn't say things like that." He stared into her eyes. "I don't know what kind of relationship you have with my father, because I've never had any connection to him in all my life. But even though we've barely known each other, I believe that there is more to you than just working for my father." Rei's eyes widened slightly. "So, please, don't say things like that. Everyone has worth even if they don't see it in themselves." He turned his back and headed to the door, but before leaving he smiled at her. "I hope you get better, Ayanami."

Rei watched as Shinji disappeared behind the door. She didn't know what happened but hearing his words had sparked the return of the sensations that she felt in Gendo's presence. The blue-haired girl once again began pondering what it was about the commander's son that caught her off guard. She came to no conclusion after a few moments and resorted to looking at the delivered assignments on the table.

*Nerv Science/Technology Division*

"I can't believe her. What possessed her to do such a thing in the first place?" Ritsuko was fuming as she walked in the hallway towards the object of her rage. She had been informed only recently, but she still had no idea why it had happened at all. Coming to one of the small offices, she pushed the side-button and entered. Misato had been in the middle of a lunch break, when she noticed her door slide open and reveal a possessed version of her friend.

"Hey, Ritsuko. What's up?" Ritsuko stared dumbfounded at her friend's obliviousness.

"What's up? The fact that you put Shinji's name on Rei's contact list is what's up." The scientist really needed a smoke, but at the moment she focused on getting her answers.

"Oh, that…well, I just thought that since Shinji's going to be working with us…and since he's been so worried about her, I thought maybe he could…provide some support." She knew she was figuratively dead, but still hoped her friend wouldn't go berserk.

"Misato, did you ever think about how Commander Ikari would take this? If he gets wind of this, you know it's going to be me that'll get an earful." Honestly, her friend was too nosy.

"Come on, Ritsuko. I don't see the problem, anyway." That did it.

"Misato, Commander Ikari already gave Section-Two the job of overseeing Rei's recovery, why would you do this? I don't know if you've noticed, but the Commander is very picky about who associates with her. She's a very dedicated girl and the Commander plans on keeping her focused." She stared at Misato. "Shinji may be working with us, but he doesn't know about what really goes on here. Eventually, he will. But until that time, Commander Ikari has made it clear not to involve him in situations like this. Also, if Rei were to become negatively influenced…" Misato stood up.

"Hey, what do you mean by negatively influenced?" Both women were fuming. "Shinji isn't that kind of person. In fact, for what he's been through, he's got the personality of a saint." Misato folded her arms in front of her. "I don't know what the big deal is with Rei, but I believe they'd both benefit from talking to each other. Shinji told me that he spoke to her before about talking about his father, so I just thought that maybe this would allow him his chance to ask her." Ritsuko had her head in her hand.

"Fine, but if the Commander asks, it's your head, not mine." With that, she left knowing she had a better chance of cooling off Gendo than her friend. She was one of the only people who knew the real reason Rei was so important to the commander, but Misato was never supposed to find that out.

*Commander's Office*

Gendo had received the report from Section Two and he wasn't pleased. He was already in a bad mood from the latest conference with Seele, so adding this was asking for trouble. Not only that, the risk of Shinji discovering vital information was high. He knew Rei wouldn't talk about those details unless she was told to, but if his son spent enough time around her he might overhear those details. Rei was important to his future plans and he kept her close by his side, yet even he knew that, if given the chance to interact with other, it could jeopardize his scenario.

"Ikari, it seems this move pushed us back further than it did forwards." Fuyutsuki eyed his friend. "As things are now, we are still on schedule, but new developments have come about."

"True. The worst problem arose when Rei's synchronization with Unit-00 failed, and now the situation has involved my son." He stared at the report. "If I intervene now it would only cause the boy to seek more answers or leave, yet if I don't do so it could create problems in the future." Gendo had reached a fork in his plans; a minor fork, but a fork that would involve unnecessary measures later.

"What do you choose to do?"

"As things stand now, I will overlook this at the moment to focus on larger matters. But I will still have Section-Two take care of Rei's other priorities. If the boy interferes in those affairs as well then I must step in." Fuyutsuki stayed silent. "Right now, I need to focus on maintaining my control over the old men. They try to make us look disposable, but in fact they fail to grasp that we hold all of the cards that they need." Gendo smirked.

"Don't be overconfident, Ikari. They may still have a few cards left to play." Gendo knew this, but it was nothing that they couldn't overcome.

*Shinji' Apartment*

Shinji was getting ready for bed when he heard the front door unlock. Knowing who it was, he opened the bedroom door and made his way to the living area. Misato walked in with her usual overnight bag and extra belongings.

"Hello, Misato." Shinji smiled. "How was your day?"

"Hey, Shinji. It was fine, nothing normal." _At least nothing you should know. Damn that Ritsuko._ "You know, Shinji, I've been thinking. Since I come here almost all the time, why don't I just move in here?" This definitely changed the mood from the boy's point of view.

"Um, Misato…Are you sure you want to do that?" Not that he had anything against her, but he had a strange feeling about this.

"Sure. I mean, we're practically living together already." Misato set her bags on the counter. "Besides, I think you could use another person around the house. Lord knows you have more than enough room." Shinji couldn't deny that. He didn't know how far this was going so he decided to change the subject.

"By the way, Misato, I found out today that someone mistakenly put my name on Ayanami's contact list. Do you know who that could be?" Misato flinched slightly but held her composure.

"Um, no, not really. That does sound kinda strange…But, hey, at least now you get the chance to talk to her more often. Now you can talk to her all you want about your father." Shinji didn't know how to explain it, but he felt like she was lying. But he felt guilty for thinking so and opted to ignore it.

"Oh, yea. Well, that works too, I guess." He looked at the clock. "Wow, it's getting late. We should head to bed now."

"Why don't you go ahead and I'll go when I'm finished." Shinji nodded and left to his room, while Misato prepare for bed. But what Shinji didn't know was that Misato had already prepared a little surprise for him tomorrow.

*Next Day*

Shinji did his morning ritual of getting ready for school and began his new fad of preparing his own lunch. After finishing, he said goodbye to Misato; only getting a muffled reply. Shinji was steadily getting used to the train ride and even found time to play his SDAT player for a few minutes. Since his talk with Misato, he had gradually begun to shy away from constantly listening to it. Before he arrived, he had constantly used it to drown out the world around him, but since coming to Tokyo-3 he had brightened up some.

After meeting up with his friends and getting to class, he made a note to himself to get Rei's assignments again. Touji was his usual self – acting tough, laughing at new rumors, and complaining about how Hikari has it out for him. Kensuke, on the other hand, had been getting more attached to his computer lately and Shinji worried about his earlier comments. He knew he couldn't stop his friend from his new obsession, but that didn't stop him from picturing his friend's incarceration. Class got underway as soon as the teacher arrived for homeroom.

By the end of their last class, Touji and Shinji were getting worried about their geek of a friend. He had gotten in trouble at least twice in every class, by either the teacher or Hikari, for focusing more on the information he was searching. Shinji told Touji to handle the situation since he had to deliver Rei's homework and the latter nodded. Shinji had lost his fear of visiting Rei, but he wondered where the conversation would turn to today. Their earlier conversation had been…rather interesting. And Shinji wondered what consequences his comments would cause.

Opening the door quietly, he noticed Rei was awake this time and looking towards the entrance. As he glanced at her face, he felt a sudden difference in her demeanor. On the outside, her face looked exactly as it did the day before, but there was something in her eyes that changed.

"Good afternoon, Ayanami. I'm here to drop off today's homework." He set the load on the table. "I was able to take some extra notes for you, so I put that in the pile as well. I don't know how much help it will be, but it should make the assignments easier to understand." He caught her staring at him again and decided to do something new.

"Is there something that you need?" Rei was silent for a moment, but replied.

"Ikari…about your request earlier…I do not think I'll be of much help." Shinji was once again confused. _She does that a lot to me lately._ "There are things that I've been told not to speak of by others and most of that information deals with your father."

"Oh, you mean about my father." He smiled. "It's okay, Ayanami. I don't want to know anything about his work; I just wanted to know if you could tell me about him." Rei looked up as if in thought.

"What do you wish to know?"

"Just normal things; like how he acts when you're around, has he ever talked about his family, or maybe if he's mentioned my mother." The girl went into thought, but, after a while, looked as if she had come to a resolution.

"Is it normal for people to know these things about people they associate with?" Shinji tilted his head.

"Yea, usually when you've been around someone for a long time you get to understand things about them – things like their likes and dislikes, hobbies, favorite foods, or their dreams." Rei's eyes looked as if she was struggling internally.

"I…I am not able to answer any of these questions?" Shinji looked worriedly at the girl. "Why are no answers coming to me?"

"It's okay, Ayanami, you don't have to push yourself. I don't have to know."

"It is not that, Ikari, but I have no answers for any of the questions you asked. The Commander never talks about himself and he has yet to mention his past." Rei had never felt like this. She was sure that she would have been able to at least answer one or two questions. But as she thought back, she realized that even she had never seen that side of him. She turned to the boy. "Why do you wish to know about Commander Ikari if you are his son?" Shinji looked away.

"Because, just like you, I've never seen that side of him either. I was cast away years ago by him and since then I've always wondered what he was like to those he cherished." He pause for a while before looking at her again. "Ayanami, I've come to a decision. I'm not going to be searching for my father anymore. If he wants me to know more about him then I'll let him tell me on his own." He smiled. "I would really like it if you learned all that too." She stared at him.

"Ikari…"

"Ayanami, you're always alone at school. How come?"

"It has always been that way, ever since I started school. I was ordered to maintain my focus on my training so I thought that there was no need to associate with others as long as I fulfilled my duties." Shinji was shocked.

"Ayanami, it's not right to be alone. I've experienced that before. I shied away from others and kept them at a distance, but in the end it only hurt me further." He faced her. "I don't want you to experience that." A pregnant pause engulfed the room. "Ayanami, would it be okay if…we became friends?"

"Friends?" Rei eyed him again. She didn't know what it was about him, but something told her that he was trustworthy. "I guess that would be acceptable. How do you begin?"

"It's already begun. The first part of everything is to accept a friendship. After that, we'll work on everything as we go along." He looked at his watch. "It's getting late. I'd better hurry home before Misato gets back." He headed for the door but turned around. "It was great talking to you, Ayanami. I'll be by again tomorrow, so get some rest." Rei didn't know what to feel at that moment, but decided to trust the young boy on his offer. Little by little, she felt the calmness wash over her.

*Shinji's Apartment*

_Well, that went well. I hope Ayanami and I can become good friends. She deserves to have more people in her life._ Shinji smiled. He refrained from listening to his SDAT player the entire ride on the train, and instead focused on what he could do to start off in the right foot with the blue-haired girl.

As he approached the apartment, he noticed a variety of boxes in the hallway and wondered what was up. He used his key to open the door, but found it already unlocked. Nervous, he slowly turned the handle and peeked inside, but only found Misato going through a box similar to the ones outside. This looked very suspicious.

"Oh. Hello, Shinji, when did you get here?" Misato was beaming as she greeted the boy, who was starting to sweat.

"Um, hello, Misato. What's going on here exactly?" He eyed the box that she was going through.

"Well…you know how I mentioned moving…" She trailed off as she saw the imminent freak-out in his eyes.

"What?" His eyes looked ready to pop out. "You mean you're really moving here?"

"Yep. So how about you do your new roomie a favor and grab another box from the hall." Shinji sighed and did as she asked. Misato could sense his reluctance, so she decided to help him adjust.

"Look, Shinji, I know you're a little confused right now, but I think this will work out nicely. I know you're used to living alone, but I think it's time you got some genuine human contact." She took the box from his hands. "I just want to make you feel at home." She sorted out the materials. "You haven't had anyone you could call family in a while, so maybe you could start considering me as your new family." Shinji smiled

"That would be nice, Misato." He eyed a cross that she pulled from the box. "That's a nice cross." Misato eyed the piece slightly.

"It belonged to my father. It was given to me before he died." She looked deep in thought before taking the cross and putting it around Shinji's neck.

"Misato?"

"I'm trusting you with this." She eyed him. "It's very important to me, so try not to lose it."

"I won't, Misato." Shinji eyed her back, causing her to smile.

"Well now, I think this calls for a celebration. How about we go get something to eat?" Shinji nodded and followed her to the car. He didn't know what the future held for him, but, with the way things were going, he would protect everything dear to him. He smiled picturing a blue-haired girl.

Well that's it for the pre-NGE series, and now to the main course. I'll start the next chapter soon, but I'm going into student teaching at the end of this month so I might be on hiatus. Don't quit on me, though and continue to monitor your emails for new chapters.

I had a little trouble with the Rei/Shinji scenes but I managed to keep her true to herself. Since she encountered Shinji before the Unit-00 incident she was less hostile to him for speaking ill of Gendo. Her loyalty to Gendo in the beginning is because he's been the only one there for her, so having more than one person there changes the plot.


	7. It Begins

Hey, everyone. I thank everyone for being patient in my LONG writing hiatus. Lately I haven't been able to find the right inspiration to continue my Eva series and, in case anyone asks, I don't write unless I have to right inspiration. Without inspiration my stories feel like and possibly turn out like crap. Anyway, for those glaring at me for not continuing sooner, here is something to ease your mind. It's finally time to continue where the Pre-NGE series ended.

Disclaimer: Since it's the start of the new series I repeat all the stuff about me owning nothing but my original part of the plot and Yuuji Akai.

NGE: Will to Live

Chapter 7: It Begins

Silence. That's all that could be heard at the moment. Complete and utter silence. If one was to describe the sight before them they would say that it was as if they were in a ghost town. What made it even odder was the atmosphere; it was a sunny day in mid-afternoon and there was no activity despite the flashes of street lights and display messages above train stations. There was not even the sound of the wind.

*Nerv Main Control Room*

Opposite its outside counterpart, the seemingly impenetrable fortress below the Earth's surface was slightly livelier. At the head of the main control room sat a dark, yet calculating man with his hands folded before his face and sunglasses enshrouding his eyes. To his right stood an older man with a similar but calmer air about him. Below them was a small group of military officials, some smoking cigars every five minutes and others eyeing the main screen at the front. Surrounding them were different groups of individuals, each performing certain tasks and monitoring their own computer screens. On the mentioned enlarged screen stood a dark shadow steadily making its way to an unknown destination; well, unknown to most.

"And so it begins." The dark man knew full well what the creature was and possibly what it was about to do, but for now he was going to let the foolish higher-ups try their hand at dealing with this so-called menace. One of the military officials stood up.

"Alright, commence attack as planned." At that moment, seven hovering crafts began to open fire on the clearly undeterred humanoid life-form. This went on for several minutes before it raised its right arm and extended a beam-like javelin from inside its palm, destroying one of the hovercrafts. This appeared to cause the others to hesitate in getting too close and back out of range to continue the assault. At this point, the other military personnel knew that this was getting them nowhere and decided to switch strategies.

"Keep firing. Lead it in the direction of our trump card. That ought to put it in its place." The others could be seen snickering as they pictured the success of their latest weapon. It was never tested on a live enemy, but to them this was as good of a field test as any.

*Nerve Debriefing Room-Station 1*

The room was dark with the only light coming from the projector above three individuals who watched the screened action above ground. A young man and young woman sat together separate by a single seat, while an older woman in her late twenties lounged from her seat behind them. The three watched as the zoomed out picture captured the creature as it neared the mountain top. As it took its final step to the top, a large explosion engulfed the area surrounding it before the screen went black. A few seconds went by before the screen returned to normal showing clouds of smoke with hovercrafts around the blast.

"Was that…" The young boy turned to the purple-haired woman behind him.

"That's right, Shinji. That was an N2 mine." She lazily kept facing the screen as if she was watching an old rerun of a boring movie. "By now the Japanese military must be celebrating their 'victory,' although, I'd like to be there when they see the screen in a few seconds." She grinned inwardly at the possible dumbfounded looks they would have.

As if on cue, the dust began to settle revealing the contents behind the ash. The group's attention was pulled away from the sound of the intercom signaling that there was a call waiting. The older woman rose and pushed the button causing her to see a blonde scientist on the screen.

"Misato, the commander wants you to go ahead and begin the briefing so that Shinji can suit up."

"Does this mean we've been given clearance?"

"No, but you already know we'll be given clearance anyway since we have the only weapon capable of defeating the Angel." The blonde never lost her composure as she gave out her orders. "How are the pilots doing?"

"Fine. We've been watching everything from start to finish and so far it's been pretty dull." Misato rubbed her head and sighed. "When are these people going to understand that they can't destroy giant walking monsters with little helicopters and one bomb? I only wish I could see the looks on their faces when they see the result, Ritsuko."

"Well, maybe we'll get lucky and catch it recorded on the surveillance cameras. Anyway, I wish you all the best of luck. We'll be doing our best to make sure no problems arise mechanically." The screen went out and Misato turned to face the two individuals with her, a young brunette boy and blue-haired girl.

"Alright, Shinji, listen up. This is going to be very different compared to the simulation training you've done so far. I want you to go into this with the utmost caution and seriousness. We'll update you on the battle once you're inside Unit-01."

"Yes, Misato." Shinji was nervous to say the least. He had trained a whole four years for this and he still had no way to calm his nerves. Now he had nothing to do but stand up and face the music. As he turned to leave, he heard a soft voice behind him.

"Ikari." Shinji turned to see his fellow pilot staring at him. "Do your best." He smiled at her and headed to change into his combat attire. Once he was gone, Misato turned to the blue-haired albino.

"Wow, Rei. I've never heard you say anything like that before." Normally, Misato would revel in teasing people she cared about and seeing them get flustered, but for Rei Ayanami it was a completely different story. The girl was too composed and she never saw her lose her composure once.

"Ikari has told me that those are the correct words to say when you want someone to succeed." Rei stared ahead at the place where Shinji had been, hoping what she said was the right thing. After all, it wasn't just a matter of succeeding but also about survival.

*Nerv Hangar 01*

Shinji Ikari had suited up into his plugsuit in a matter of minutes. The feel of the almost elastic suit on his skin always reminded him why he felt so uncomfortable wearing it. Since it worked better when he removed his clothing, he felt like he was forced to walk around in the nude in front of everyone. He had gotten used to it, but he felt self-conscious none the less. He steadily made his way up the sideways ladder leading up to the machine that he would be using to face the new enemy above ground. After reaching the tube-like cockpit on the back of its neck, he went inside causing it to retract back into the machine's back.

Immediately after settling in, he felt a tingling sensation as numerous waves assaulted his body. It took a moment before things felt normal again and he gazed back into the hangar from his vantage point. It took little time before a small screen appeared on the right-hand corner with Misato's face in the center.

"Shinji, how are you doing?" The older woman had visible signs of concern on her face and that eased his mind a bit.

"I'm a little nervous, but I'm fine. I haven't been inside this thing for a few months now so I'm trying to get used to it." Even though he tried to act okay, he could tell she knew he was scared of the possibilities to come. This was the real thing and, unlike practice, there were no do-overs.

"Shinji, I know you're scared and you have every right to be. But remember all of our training up to this point has been to prepare you for today. We didn't pull any punches because we knew that in reality it would only hurt you in the future. The only thing we could do was make sure that you could win and come back alive, and now it's time to show that thing what you've got." Misato smiled after her pep talk. He knew she was right. If there was anything he should be doing now, it was remembering his training and the different things he was taught to approach the situation.

"I understand, Misato. I'm ready to go at any time." He smiled back and looked at the new screen on the left, which showed visuals of the target. The thing was ugly to say the least, but its bite was worse than its look. He needed to remember to watch out for any surprises it may have.

Misato was conflicted. As operations director, she knew the stakes and what needed to be done to accomplish her mission, but as a person who spent part of her life with this boy she felt powerless and afraid of what could happen. If she had her way, she would be in that machine instead of him, but unfortunately only certain individuals could access those weapons. The only thing she could do was lay out a plan to help him win and believe that all their work was not for nothing.

As soon as the okay was given from the Commander, she began the operation. "Evangelion Unit 01, launch!" The boy felt the G-force of the pull as his machine was sent upwards to engage the enemy, known as an Angel. A few seconds later, Shinji found himself staring at the buildings surrounding his point of entry. He saw the enemy not far from his position, but it appeared that he had not been noticed yet. Taking this as his advantage, he slowly crouched in his unit after the locks were released.

Despite the advancement in technology, his unit still required a supply of energy or else he'd run the risk of it running out of power soon. Quickly he made his way to a nearby hangar where a large cord and plug were and attached it to his machine's back. Once that was finished he found another spot to grasp a large rifle, a valuable weapon in case the enemy tried to get him within range of its javelin. Standing slightly, he saw the Angel make its way past his position behind the buildings.

"Okay, he still hasn't seen me. Time to wait for an opportunity." He kept a visual on his enemy, who had begun heading in a similar direction to his entry point. _Maybe he's trying to find a way to get to the Geofront_. Misato appeared on screen.

"Shinji, what's your status?" Her military tone was showing.

"I don't think he's notices me yet. Right now I think he's trying to find a way to enter the Geofront, but he seems to be going about it in a strange way." He carefully made followed the Angel as it kept walking. "How should I approach him in this situation without getting hit back?"

"Remember, Shinji, the Angel also has an A.T. field present. According to Ritsuko, with that field active any normal means of attack is useless, so don't attack him head-on. That's why those attacks earlier had no effect." Misato herself was hesitant to attack the creature so she needed a new plan of attack. "Shinji, I want you to get some distance between yourself and the Angel. Once you're at a safe distance, I want you to open fire on the target as much as you can. That should weaken its A.T. field."

"Roger." Shinji did as ordered and allowed the creature to walk further away from him. Once he was at a safe range, he aimed and fired. Sure enough, the Angel quickly faced the direction of its adversary who was currently firing shot after shot at its body. Shinji could tell the Angel felt nothing as it had yet to move or make any sound of pain. As the last shell was unloaded, Shinji prepared to reload and ducked to hide behind the surroundings. Thanks to the buildings, even if the Angel knew there was an enemy in the distance there was less chance of it retaliating if it was on the defensive. Shinji managed to find an ideal place to monitor his target and reload his weapon.

"Shinji, we're going to try again, but this time I want you to wait for my signal." Misato's face appeared again as he was in the process of putting in another cartridge. Turning to her subordinates, she put her plan in motion. "I want all artillery in the northern section to open fire on the Angel. Draw its attention away from Unit-01." A few minutes later, the Angel looked on as missiles and a barrage of bullets rained down on its position, its A.T. field neutralizing most of the damage. The attack continued with no signs of distress on the creature's part, but in one moment it realized too late the true goal of the onslaught as its former adversary came up from behind.

Shinji focused all his energy into using his basic weapon, a laser-like knife, to finally pierce the Angel's shield, which was slowly starting to form a crack in the middle. As the crack grew larger by the second, Shinji noticed the Angel glow for a second before he felt himself become engulfed in searing light.

"Shinji!" Misato couldn't believe this. One second Shinji was about to pierce through the Angel's A.T. field and possibly defeat it and then the next he was sent flying by a large beam. "Ritsuko, what the hell was that?" The blonde appeared just as surprised as her comrade.

"It appears that the Angel is able to use a highly concentrated form of energy as an offensive weapon. I never knew that it was capable of using such an attack." The scientist was already trying to form hypotheses on the subject.

"To think that it had such a thing this whole time." She stared back at the Angel on screen. "Were we the ones luring it, or was it luring us in the whole time?"

Pain. That's what Shinji was feeling at this moment all over his body. It was as if his skin had just been ignited. He was told that the pain of the Eva was felt by the pilot as well. A sort of phantom pain, but he seriously thought for a moment that his body was on fire. Slowly, he managed to upright half of the Eva's body enough to see the Angel making its way toward him. He had a feeling it wasn't going to be pleasant once it finally reached him, but at the moment he was finding it difficult to stand. Had taking a point blank shot from that attack really done that much damage, or was it that his body was too afraid to move?

As it grew closer, Shinji felt his fear grow stronger as he imagined another attack similar to the first one. Thanks to this though, he was able to get back on his feet and grab the rifle that had been released after his fall. At this range he felt that only thing he could do was fire with all he could. As the gunfire began, Shinji noticed the Angel being deterred slightly as a few bullets grazed its flesh. Perhaps it hadn't had enough time to heal its shield during the time he was on the floor. With a renewed sense of hope, Shinji kept firing as the Angel slowly drew forward, but his victory was short-lived when the only sound from his gun was an empty click.

The Angel was now in range to do whatever it pleased with the weakened boy, as it stretched its arm to grasp the Eva's left arm. Shinji could feel the sensation of pulling as if his arm would tear at any moment. The pain was so real that he began grasping his actual arm trying to pull it back in the opposite direction. Then just like that the Angel was thrown back by a sudden impact, releasing its captive in the process. Shinji turned only to see an orange machine similar to his, except with cyclops characteristics.

"Ayanami?" Shinji couldn't believe his eyes. There stood his friend's Eva poised with a large sniper rifle, which had been the cause of the Angel's release.

"Ikari, the Angel appears to be weakened enough. We must hurry before it has time to recuperate." The shoulder of her orange behemoth opened to reveal a knife similar to the one Shinji had used before. Taking it out, she tossed it to him before taking another shooting stance. "I will provide support from here."

"Thank you, Ayanami. Without you here I might have been in real trouble. I owe you one." Shinji gripped the knife in his hand and charged at the now standing Angel. Unable to erect another shield at the moment, the creature opted for another particle beam but was quickly halted by another shot, disabling its concentration. It was too late for the Angel as its attacker brought the knife onto the red sphere in the center of its chest. Its life slowly drained away as the sphere cracked, followed by a large spray of blood and loud screech from the Angel.

*Medical Ward*

"Good job out there Shinji." Misato, who had previously barged in and hugged the boy, was now eyeing him with relief. He had suffered only minor injuries but he stated it could have been a lot worse if Rei hadn't come to his aid.

"Thanks, Misato, but if Ayanami hadn't saved me I might be not have been so lucky." He looked over at said girl, who was now calmly being evaluated, despite the fact that she had not been in direct conflict. The blue-haired girl directed her face slightly in his direction.

"I only did what I felt was necessary to make sure that Ikari didn't sustain further damage." The nurse finished her examination and Rei stood up. "Although, I do not think that anyone would have suspected the Angel to be capable of using such an attack." She calmly walked to the two other tenants.

"Well, it's good to know that I can always count on you if things get serious, Ayanami." Shinji smiled and Misato could have sworn there was a slight change in Rei's demeanor for a second, but it was too quick to notice. After both pilots were checked out, Misato suggested a quick snack to celebrate their victory of the day.

*Nerv Commander's Office*

Gendo Ikari sat at his desk overlooking a small group of files on his desk. The latest news had come from Seele that a meeting was in order to discuss the latest findings from the Angel's remains and what to expect on the next attack. Gendo was sure that the old men just wanted to see if he was going along with their plan as scheduled, but he wouldn't voice such thoughts out loud. After all, how else could he use the old me if he didn't do some acting as well.

Eyeing the folders he decided to follow up on Germany's latest news to send him the famed Unit-02 and its pilot. A picture of a young teenage girl was beside the photo of the now complete first combat-exclusive Evangelion. Things were beginning to shape up nicely.


	8. Recollection

Hey, everyone. I see a few people have put my story on an alert list and that satisfies me a lot, but I do hope that some of you will review and tell me what you think of the story so far (hopefully more than 1 sentence comments). As most already know, the tsunami and category 8.9 earthquake, with resulting aftershocks, has done major damage to Japan. Please keep everyone in your prayers, especially Hideaki Anno and his family.

NGE: Will to Live

Chapter 8: Recollection

It was a normal day as students celebrated their return to school after the huge battle by listening to the slow, monotone speech of the teacher. Due to the ensuing activity of the previous week most students couldn't even pay attention to the teacher's lecture, not that they couldn't repeat everything by heart already. Shinji scanned the room to pass the time, noticing the different activities other students were participating in. Having been directly involved in the battle, he was not as enthusiastic as them. He could still feel the intensity of what he went through; the fear, the pain, and the relief that he was here and not dead.

Half of the students were busy gossiping behind the teacher's back, who was busy spitting out 2nd Impact jargon and memories that he had during that experience. A lot of girls could be heard saying "I know, I know" while boys were going "I bet it was so awesome, I wish I had seen it." The brunette couldn't understand their enthusiasm. _I'll bet if they had fought in that battle they wouldn't be saying half the things they're saying _now. He was interrupted by a small beep from his laptop screen. He already knew who the message was from.

_KA: __Shinji I found out something really interesting yesterday__._

_SI: __Really? What did you find out?__ Please don't let it be about the battle. Please, please don't let it be about the battle_

_KA: __It's about the battle that took place last week._ A small thump was heard, causing Kensuke to look back and see Shinji righting himself back into his seat. _Are you okay?_

_SI: __Yea, just lost concentration for a sec and fell out of my seat._ Years of keeping this a secret from his friends had made him better at making excuses. _So what did you find out?_

_KA: __Well, after making sure it was clear, I managed to sneak onto my dad's computer and saw this mysterious file. Guess what was on it?_ He paused. _Details about everything. It was so cool._

Okay, now Shinji was getting worried. Not only was his friend constantly getting involved with his secret job, but he didn't know what information he was obtaining. All it took was combining the words "Shinji Ikari," "Pilot," and "Evangelion" and his cover would be blown. He had to make sure just what kind of information his friend had gotten hold of, not only to uphold secrecy but also protect the life of the geek.

_SI: __So what kind of things did they say?_

_KA: __The first thing that came up was the enemy, which they call an Angel. I know, right. Seems ironic that they'd call it that after it caused all of that destruction. Anyway, the next part was about the weapon that was used against it._Shinji was beginning to sweat with every moment as each new detail was mentioned. _You wouldn't believe it, but we actually have our own giant robot._

_SI: __A robot?_

_KA: __Yea, but the most irritating thing was that the file with data on the robot had a code that I wasn't able to crack. I was only able to see from the file description that it was called Eva. I don't know what that stands for, but it may be either a name or just what they call the robot._

_SI: __That sucks.__ Thank God that he didn't get to see anything other than that. __Is that all?_

_KA: __Not even close. I was curious so I tried to go through some backdoors to get more information, but all that came up was a file that was in the category of related searches._ Shinji could see Kensuke's glasses shine with mischief. _There was another file I couldn't get into but under the description it said "Eva Pilot." It's common sense that a robot needs a pilot so whoever the file was about must be the pilot_.

Shinji inwardly let out a sigh of relief and secretly thanked Mr. Aida for being thorough about classified information. Then again, it would have been better if Kensuke hadn't been able to see anything in the first place. How in the world is he always able to get into things he's not supposed to? He's like the kid who keeps trying to reach the cookie jar or steal ice cream from the freezer. Then again what does Shinji know about parenting? He still occasionally tries to find where exactly the stick is in his own father's butt. Speaking of his father, Shinji glanced to the side to check on a certain someone, who was still staring out the window as she did often.

Shinji always wondered why Rei constantly kept staring outside during class time. Sure, the class was always boring, and maybe the teacher had a habit of sometimes repeating lectures word for word, but did that mean that she had no desire to learn? Nah. In fact, her grade was always in the top percent of the school, and outside of work she had a habit of reading when she was alone. He was only able to keep up because he studied hard. A small beep from his laptop meant Kensuke probably caught him daydreaming and wanted to get his attention, luckily for Shinji the lunch bell rang.

As if on cue, Touji burst in the classroom with an armful of snacks and treats that he had bought. His two friends almost thought he was literally a bottomless pit if they had not already seen him reach his limit before, not that they wanted to remember. Touji and Kensuke had already turned a group of chairs around and were waiting for their third member to come over. Shinji, on the other hand, watched as the blue-haired girl stood up and headed outside the classroom.

"Yo, Shin-man, come over and sit with us." Touji waved at his skinnier friend, while the geek was taking the time to clean his camera. Normally, the young teen would just pull up a chair and listen to normal school gossip and talk, but today he needed a change in plans.

"Sorry, guys, I have catch up on something today so I need to head out for a little." He received confused looks but nodded as he left the room. He felt bad for lying to them, but he just didn't think he could return to normalcy just yet. The worst part was that he couldn't vent anything to anyone because of secrecy. Therefore, he decided to eat lunch in the only quiet place in the school.

*Rooftop*

Sure enough, there was no one in sight, which made it easier for him to relax. After taking a seat near the fence line, he opened his bento to partake of one of the major skills he had. He had only started eating for about ten minutes when he heard the rooftop door open. _And here I thought I could actually get some privacy today_. Turning an irritated eye at the door he was almost taken aback by the red-eyed girl coming his way. She quietly took a seat close-by and began eating her bread, which appeared to be her lunch for the day.

"Ayanami, I didn't expect to see you hear." Rei looked over slightly before turning back to her meal.

"Am I not welcome to eat here?" Shinji shook his head and leaned back against the fence. He smiled as he stared at the sky.

"No, not at all. In fact, I'm glad that it was you who came up here." He turned to see her eyes staring into his own blue eyes. "I just didn't feel like spending time around anyone else at the moment. With you, Ayanami, I can at least be myself." He went back to his bento eating almost mechanically as he began thinking.

"You can be yourself around me?" If he had not known her for four years he would not be able to notice the slight confusion in her almost passive face.

"Yea. Ever since I started training and piloting, I've been kind of torn since I have to keep everything a secret." He took a sip of his tea and stared at his reflection. "Right now I have to play the part of a normal high school student, but the only drawback is that when I want to talk about things that concern piloting or anything about Nerv I can't. I feel like my normal life is an illusion." Rei was silent for a short time before speaking.

"Do you dislike being with Nerv?" He admired the albino for her ability to always ask the right questions. If they ever had the chance to live a normal life, then he would seriously recommend that she become a therapist.

"I can't say. I really can't." He took a bite of rice with his chopsticks remaining in his mouth. "But I wouldn't say that I want to quit either. There's too much at stake for me to run away. I don't think I would be able to forgive myself if I made everyone handle my burden too."

"I remember…" Shinji's turned his head in confusion.

"What?" The blue-haired girl has a far-off look as she stared straight ahead.

"I remember that time long ago," she paused, "the time when you first ran away."

Shinji smiled slightly. He remembered that time as well. It was a year after the physical training had started and he had been introduced to the evangelion. The shock of seeing the giant monster before him was almost enough to overwhelm him, but the fight between the Angels was the straw that broke the camel's back. As a young kid, he naturally took it as a joke but when no one started laughing he had a small mental breakdown. How was he, a young kid, supposed to fight off a group of monsters bent on destroying the world? He avoided Misato for a while and eventually decided to run away from home.

It was only for a few days but they felt longer. He had traveled all around the area from the red-light district to the mountains and tried to come to grips with what he wanted to do. Part of him wanted to run away and not have to fight, but another part reasoned that he should stay and do what he could. He knew that Misato and the rest were there to support him, which ultimately led to his return. That didn't mean he was willing to comply completely since immediately afterwards he was given a stern talking to by Misato. But what made a big impression on him was his conversation with Rei.

Although they had not had many deep conversations, Shinji could feel that he and Rei were getting along to a certain degree. While she didn't start many conversations she did manage to reply to his questions and answers. During his time away, he thought about her, in the sense that he was guilty about possibly abandoning a person whom he has made his friend. To him, the girl seemed even less fortunate than he was and once he remembered that he had begun contemplating returning to Tokyo-3. He still hadn't told anyone of this for certain reasons. One, Misato you most likely tease him. Two, he didn't want to ruin it by giving Rei the possible wrong impression.

He would be lying if he said that he didn't see Rei as a member of the opposite sex. Shinji knew for a fact that she was attractive. Her natural features made her even more unique and her personality, which some took as suspicious or distant, made her more alluring to him. But since he felt that his relationship with Rei was fragile he always felt worried if someone mentioned the possibility of anything beyond friendship, at least around her.

The brunette remembered talking to her a few days after he had returned from his time alone. Even though he had only known her for a year, he could sense a slight disappointment emanating from her stare. He asked her if she found out about his little escapade, which she confirmed. He was surprised when she asked him why he left, which prompted him to explain his feelings about his supposed mission.

After being introduced to the evangelion, Shinji was also made aware that Rei was already ahead of him in training with the machine, further confusing him. He had asked her about her feelings on piloting and fighting the Angels, to which she said that she trusted his father's work. He then went into a ramble, asking how he was going to stop the Angels or why someone like him had to carry this burden. However, during his rant he momentarily forgot that she was carrying the same burden as him. In her own way, she managed to tell him that if he didn't want to do it then he should leave, but that she would stay.

It took a few weeks for Shinji to approach Rei again and during that time all he could think about was her words. He occasionally went to watch her train and during that he was able to see her resolve towards her mission. Despite the time he was at Nerv, he was never able to find a personal reason to pilot, except to not let people, especially those close to him, die. He came up to her one day and told her that he doesn't know if he can be like her and that he admired her strength, wishing he could be like that. Shinji explained that while he may be scared and want to run away, he didn't want to abandon her and leave her to do things alone again. That was the first time he had seen her drop her mask slightly.

It seemed so far off but in reality he could recall everything from memory. Now he was fourteen, he had trained extensively, and he now had experience in order to see if he was truly ready to face the future. True, he was still afraid, but who wouldn't be in this situation. What mattered was how he planned to confront this fear head-on. The boy looked at his red-eyed companion.

"Ayanami," the girl looked up towards him, delicately swallowing the bread in her mouth, "you always eat so little when you come to school. Why?" Rei turned her attention to the bread in her hands.

"This is sufficient to satisfy my hunger. I do not require much to eat in my daily servings." The boy was bewildered. While he had seen her eat different things before, he literally never saw her eat more than a handful of something for every meal. It was like she was fasting. No wonder she looks so pale and skinny.

"But that's still not healthy, Ayanami. You should still eat more in order to prevent from getting sick or suffering from malnutrition." The girl looked at him, as if this was her first time hearing about it. Shinji speculated that she probably took something literally that his father told her and stuck with only eating what she thought would sustain her health. Suddenly an idea popped into his head and he smiled. "Hey, Ayanami, how about I make you a lunch to bring to school that way you can start eating better." The albino looked as if to consider this and then responded.

"I do not wish to trouble you with such a thing, Ikari."

"Oh don't worry, it won't be any trouble at all."

"I do not wish for you to make a lunch for me every day that we attend school. I believe that would be too much of an inconvenience." Shinji frowned. So it appeared that she wasn't concerned with him making her lunch as much as the trouble of him making her lunch every day.

"Hmm…." Shinji needed to find some common ground so that she could accept the offer. "Well, let's try this then. I'll make lunches for you for a while, but in the mean time I'll also teach you how to cook that way you won't have to worry."

"Teach me to cook?" Rei's eyes gave the impression that she had never thought of learning how to cook. Shinji could tell there was a slight curiosity in her eyes as well. "I suppose that would be acceptable." The lad gave a large smile.

"Great, that settles it. At least now we'll be able to make sure that you can eat better." Just then, the lunch bell began to ring, signaling both people to head back class. Shinji headed back with Rei following behind. He didn't care if anyone misunderstood the situation of them heading back together, his mood had drastically improved.

*Nerv HQ – Command Room*

"Yes, everything is going according to plan." Gendo sat behind his desk talking to an unknown recipient. "Just be sure to safeguard the cargo on your way." Setting the phone down, he eyed the folder in front of him. A picture of an attractive young girl was seen alongside a four-eyed red robot. "It seems that things are progressing in the right direction." He shifted his focus to outside the geofront. "Don't you think so, Yui?"

Finally I managed to update. It took me a while to get everything the way I wanted. I kept starting and erasing every detail that I used in the beginning of the chapter but now I can move on. Let me know your impressions.


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